


Life As It Is, But Living As I Shouldn't

by IminHamiltonHell (IminUndertaleHell)



Series: Life as It Is [1]
Category: Hamilton - Miranda
Genre: Alex has severe anxiety, Childhood Sexual Abuse, Even if it is just someone tapping his shoulder, F/F, He gets flashbacks, He's not a big fan of physical contact, His father is a huge dick, I mean it, John ALSO has a shitty father, M/M, None of it is really described., Past Child Abuse, The flashbacks make him sick pretty easily, The tags will continue as I update., There's a lot of fucked up shit in here, Underage Prostitution
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-02
Updated: 2016-12-11
Packaged: 2018-06-05 22:51:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 32
Words: 24,749
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6726580
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IminUndertaleHell/pseuds/IminHamiltonHell
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>John and Alex both have lives they would rather not live alone. Together, they can make living just a little more enjoyable.</p><p>****COMPLETED 12/10/16****</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Start of The Journey

**Author's Note:**

> This is just a big project that I have started.
> 
> 'Rise Up' BY 'ohNooOOOOoo' was a huge influence on this, so please read that fic because it's really cool anD AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Alexander hated moving so often.

He’s never been in the same place for more than a year, but it was usually his own fault. He never knew when to  _ shut the living hell up _ and it usually got him bumped back to the foster office. This last one, however, was  _ definitely _ his fault. Well, he feels like it was. His social worker told him that him leaving any of the homes was never his fault, since he was the one that usually ended up in the hospital. This last house is what caused him to get in a full-on argument with the worker.

“Alexander, none of this was your fault.”

“Yes it was. I provoked Mr. Reynolds, and I was punished for doing so.”

“You were defending your brother.”

“Nonetheless, I was the one who started yelling at him. He hit me, and things escaladed a bit more.”

“Is there something you’re not telling us, Alex?” He shook his head, his shoulders starting to shake slightly. “Alexander, what else did Mr. Reynolds do?” Alex went on what he called a ‘gesture rant’. He couldn’t speak, his chest was tight. He could hear his blood moving in his ears as his pulse became faster and faster. When he got to the part that he had been hiding, the social worker gained a look of fear on his face.

“I brought it upon myself,” Alex said quietly as he recovered.

“Alex, that wasn’t your fault. When did that happen?”

“In the first week.”

“Alexander!” Alex flinched and the worker apologized before continuing. “You were there for four months, and you didn’t say anything.”

“Mr. Reynolds was a politician, and saying that would have made things worse for both me and him.”

“You are more important than his reputation.”

“What makes you think that?”

“You are a genius, Alexander. You’ve been running a 4.0 GPA since you arrived, and you have all of the opportunities in the world at your feet.”

“There isn’t a point. My speech abilities are getting worse with all of this going on and I haven’t written a proper essay in over a year.”

The worker changed the subject. “Now, there’s another family that called today. They’re interested in you, and I promise they are nothing like the Reynolds.” He smiled as Alex kept a somber face. “The Washingtons’ are a fairly small family, just the two and an exchange student. They wanted to take a child in since Mrs. Washington cannot have children naturally, and they saw your academic standings and were very impressed.”

Alexander had a sound of fear in his voice. “Are you sure?”

“I know the Washingtons’ personally, and they are amazing people. I know that things won’t be the same, I promise you.” The two stood up. “They are actually here now.” Alex’s face filled with fear as he followed the worker out to the meeting area.

One thing is that Mr. Washington was  _ fucking intimidating _ .

He was a tall man, and held a somber face, but his wife had a different demeanor to her. She was smiling, seeming bubbly as ever. She reminded Alex of his mother, and this made him feel a pang of sadness in his heart. 

“Mr. Washington,” the worker smiled. Washington returned the smile, and Alex relaxed. “This is Alexander.” Alexander just waved. 

His chest was tight again. He couldn’t speak. He felt trapped. He couldn’t move. His brain wasn’t working. He couldn’t breathe. His chest was getting tighter and tighter. His ears were ringing. Black dots were starting to form in his vision.

“Alexander.” It was a calm voice, clearly feminine. It must have been Mrs. Washington. “Are you alright, dear?” Alex gave a nod and turned to the worker. He gestured for him to explain.

“Alexander has severe anxiety and can often cause him to be unable to speak. This would be one of these instances, and he tends to use gestures. He was never able to learn ASL, so this is the closest that he has.” 

Alex gave a small smile and gestured to the man to tell the couple that it was wonderful to meet them.

“It was wonderful to meet you as well, Alexander.” Mr. Washington’s voice was slightly scratchy, but still smooth. It was a relaxing tone.

Alexander’s chest began to loosen. The room felt bigger. His throat was opening up again. He started to move his fingers. He could breathe again. The black dots disappeared.

They all sat in the chairs that were in the meeting room, the worker sitting closer to the wall and the other three sitting at a table.

“So, Alexander, how long have you been here?”

“This time? About an hour. All together, a few years. Stopped keeping track.”

“Have you been to any other homes?”

“Eighteen. I just have bad luck when it comes to families. I was sent back for ‘being a nuisance’ and things of the sort.” Alexander started to laugh as the worker looked up from his work. “I just usually don’t know when to shut my mouth. I tend to say things that I shouldn’t, and that results in,” he paused. Why was he opening up like this? He had just met these people! He can’t trust them, not yet. “Let’s just pretend that I didn’t say that.”

“I would prefer not to,” Martha said quietly. “We only want the best for you.”

_ That’s what Mr. Reynolds said. _

“Nonetheless, I would prefer not to talk about it at this moment.” Martha only nodded at this response.

“So, have you gone to any of the schools around here?” That was Mr. Washington.

“I went to Liberty, but that’s on the other side of town. Other than there, no.”

“How long did you go there?”

“A month. I was sent back from that family for punching the father.” And he did it again, speaking without thinking.

“You what,” Martha asked, concerned.

“Umm…” He spoke fast, “he was trying to hurt my brother, choking him. I threw a punch and helped the boy out of the house so that I could take the blows instead of him. He may have been older, but I was the stronger of the two of us. Both he and I weren’t treated the best, and he was treated worse than I was. As a result, he was weaker.”  Alexander looked down and picked at his thumbs. “Along with not knowing when to shut up, I tend to speak without thinking,” he muttered.

“Well,” Mr. Washington started and Alexander knew what was coming. They weren’t going to take him. “We have all of the papers filled out, so would you prefer to come with us tonight or in the morning?”

“Tonight would be preferable, but I am fine with tomorrow.” Alex kept his head bowed. Martha reached out to hold his hand from across the table, but he flinched and pulled his hand back. She took a deep breath before the social worker stood up.

“Alexander.” He flinched at the harshness of the voice from someone that has always been there for him. It was unfamiliar. “Let’s get your things put together, and we can be back in just a moment.” Alex didn’t know what he was doing, he only had two pairs of clothes and some personal possessions. Nonetheless, Alexander nodded as they stood and exited the room. They got to where Alexander had first walked in and grabbed his things.

“Did you need to talk about something?”

“At least  _ try _ to stay at this house, alright?” Alex was furious about the worker’s assumption that he wasn’t trying to find a family, but he still nodded. Alex grabbed the small backpack and slung it on his shoulder as they walked back to the Washingtons’.

“Is that all that you have, dear,” Martha asked and he nodded. “Well, it’s a long drive, so we’d best get moving.” Alexander only nodded as he followed the couple out of the building. He got into the back seat of the car, putting his seatbelt on as Martha smiled back at him. “You can sleep if you wish. The ride is about two hours.” He nodded before leaning his head to one side and trying to sleep.

“Laf? Yes, we picked up Alexander. No, I don’t know if you were right, but I’m going to talk with his social worker tomorrow to get any more information.” Martha spoke somberly into the phone, presumably with the exchange student that Alex would also be living with. “Nonetheless, it gives me a suspicion of how bad it could be. He flinches at even the smallest of physical contact, and tends to fall into a state of muteness caused by anxiety.” She sighed. “I’m just worried about him. What is it that he isn’t telling us?”

“There’s a million things I haven’t done.” He paused after speaking. “I’ll tell you one day, Mrs. Washington. But first, there’s a million things I haven’t done, so just you wait.” He then fell asleep with something that he hadn’t had in awhile.

A smile on his face and the warm feeling of happiness in his chest.


	2. Memories

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> panier de bites: dickbasket. (Well, 'Basket of dicks')
> 
> Je m’appelles Alexander Hamilton. C’est un plaisir de vous rencontrer: My name is Alexander Hamilton. It is a pleasure to meet you.
> 
> De meme: as to you
> 
> Ce n'était probablement pas la meilleure façon de se familiarise: This was probably not the best way to become familiar

Alexander didn’t remember where he was when he woke up the next morning. He was in a soft bed, still wearing his clothes from the previous night. Turning on his side, he winced at the shooting pain from the cuts and bruises. There was a note on his nightstand, and he grabbed it.

_Alexander,_

_Good morning! Breakfast will most likely be ready before you wake up. I am staying home today while George goes to work and Lafayette is at a friend’s house. We can work on enrolling you later, but I want to talk to you first. Just to get to know you._

_With Love,_

_Mom._

Alex felt his stomach churning as the words brought about memories that had him rushing for the bathroom and hurling into the toilet.

“Alexander?” It was Martha, her voice worried. “Are you alright?”

“I-I’m alright, just not feeling we-” He ended up cutting himself of by hurling again. Martha opened the door and saw him. She gasped loudly, kneeling down to rub his back.

“Are you not feeling well?”

“Memories. Made me sick.” Alexander spoke quietly, not intending to be heard.

“Might you want to talk about it?”

“Not yet.” Alexander threw up in the toilet once again as more memories of what his _jackass_ of a foster father had done only days before being sent back. “Soon. There’s a million things I haven’t done, and I can talk after they are done.” Martha gave a knowing smile and nodded.

“I’m going to get you some crackers to settle your stomach.”

That’s how Alexander ended up spending the day crying on the bathroom floor, eating crackers with the foster mother he had only known for a day. He told her about what Reynolds did. He showed her the cuts and bruises. The nail marks and hickeys. He told her about the past houses. He told her about his birth family. About his _real mother_. Through it all, she comforted him.

“We won’t do that here.” Martha smiled. “One of the most important rules of this house; no punishment will involve physical contact or anything that can cause harm.”

For the first time in a long time, Alexander smiled.

====

Lafayette was home before George, and was confused when they walked in and heard nothing but silence. There was usually music floating in from the kitchen, and they half-expected Martha to be talking with the new kid, Alexander.

It was when they heard singing from upstairs that they hurried up and to the bathroom. They knocked on the door, and the singing stopped. Martha opened the door.

“Mom? Is everything alright?”

“Of course, Laffy Taffy. I was just talking to Alexander.” Laf peaked in and saw that Alex was leaning against one of the walls, covering his eyes. “He’s not feeling too well, and has been hurling all day. I’ve been in here with him, and we’ve been talking.”

“So you’re Alexander Hamilton, huh?” Alex silently nodded. “I’ve heard that you’re pretty talkative, is that true?” Another nod. “You alright?” He shook his head.

“Bad memories. Grotesque ones,” Alexander said as he took a deep breath. “They just keep flooding in, and making me even more disgusted as time goes on.”

“You want to borrow my phone and listen to some music to take your mind off of it?”

“Never thought of that. Well, I didn’t have any real source of technology for my own in the first place, but that’s besides the point.”

“I should go and start dinner. Laffy, can you stay here with him?” Lafayette nodded and she hurried out the door. They walked into the room and sat next to him on the floor.

“So you’re the exchange student?”

“Yep! I’m Lafayette,” they held their hand out to shake and he used his open one to return the gesture.

“ _Je m’appelles_  Alexander Hamilton. _C’est un plaisir de vous rencontrer_.” He silently cursed himself for reverting back to French.

“ _De meme._ ”

“ _Ce n'était probablement pas la meilleure façon de se familiarise,_ ” Alexander laughed. He stopped only a second later when he felt bile rising in his throat. He held his wrist over his mouth and tried to swallow it.

“Did the crackers help you?” Alexander nodded. “Are you going to hurl again?” He shrugged. Lafayette took out their phone and unwrapped the earbuds from around it. Turning it on, they offered one of the sides to Alexander. He took the small earpiece and listened as the music played.

“This is one of my good friends, John Laurens.”

“Wait a goddamn minute.” Alexander laughed. “This is John Laurens? Son of Henry Laurens?”

“Ex-son. He got disowned.”

“I’ve met his father. He’s a dickbasket.” Alexander smiled. “I’ve met John. I had to go with Mr. Reynolds to see a… client.” He fiddled with his hand. “I don’t remember much about him,” He began to rub his hands around the front of his neck. “He had bruises around here. It wasn’t like hickeys, but like someone was choking him. It was poorly covered up with makeup.”

“Yes, his father is a _panier de bites_.”

“I really wish that there was a French translation for ‘dickbasket’, I really do,” Alexander laughed as there was a soft knock at the door.

“ _Oui?_ ” Alexander pulled the earbud out.

“It’s John. Mrs. Washington just told me you were in here. Are you alright?”

“I am alright, John. I’m here with Alexander.” John opened the door, slipping in and closing the door behind him.

“Wonderful to see you again, Alexander.” Alexander began to chuckle.

“I still think our first introduction was much better than me sitting on the same floor that I have been since nine this morning.”

“Is everything alright?”

“I’ve been sick since I woke up, so not really.” He slowly slid up the wall. “I’m feeling a bit better now, so I'm going to try to stand up.” He pushed himself off of the wall, and was able to stand for a few seconds before leaning back towards the wall. “Well, I don’t feel like I’m going to be sick. That’s a start.” He leaned on the sink and held his other hand out to shake. He gave a weak smile as John accepted the gesture.

“Well, I brought my laptop with me.” He smiled back at Alexander. “We can try to start getting you enrolled.” Alexander only nodded as Lafayette stood up and they all walked back to ‘Alex’s’ bedroom.

\----

“But I really want to take AP Ecology!”

“Alexander, pretty much every class you are taking is an AP course. The only ones that aren’t are Choir, your mandatory study hall, and Common Time.”

“Can’t I get rid of the study hall?”

“Nope,” Lafayette smiled.

“And I want more than one class with you, so you’re taking Choir,” John laughed.

“I was going to take Choir in the first place, but I guess that’s a plus.”

“Get a room you two, you’re going to make me sick.”

“Shut the hell your mouth, Lafayette,” John snapped as Alex’s face went red. He kept a straight face and seemed to go into a daze for a few seconds. It was like he was remembering something. Lafayette knew what was going on and wrapped one of their arms around the smaller boy until he calmed down. They began to whisper things in French to Alexander before he calmed down.

He took a deep breath and forced a smile onto his face. “Sorry about that! Just some bad memories,” he chuckled. Turning back to the computer, John could see that he was trying to make it seem like nothing had happened. He shot a look at Lafayette that said, ‘ _there’s something he’s not telling us._ ’

Lafayette nodded in agreement.

\----

Alexander knew that they were suspicious, but he didn’t really want to talk about it. He got the other things filled out and printed the applications. He signed what he needed to before they all stood up and went downstairs.

“Alex, dear, are you hungry,” Martha asked. He only shook his head. “Are you feeling better?” He nodded. “Might you be up for shopping?” He just shrugged, but it was a cheery one. Martha smiled in response and Alex felt a smile creep onto his face. Her smiles were so contagious, it was crazy. He sat at the breakfast bar that was connected to the kitchen and closed his eyes as he purposely widened his smile. They all started laughing as John watched the smaller boy.

“ _ So this is what he is like when he’s truly happy _ ,” John thought. 

Alexander’s laugh was like bubbles in a glass of champagne. John loved the bubbliness of it, and he wanted to hear it more often. John gave a small smile.


	3. Sensitive Questions

Alexander watched John as they all laughed. John kept a straight face until the two made eye contact, and that’s when a small smile appeared. The freckles on John’s face made the smile all the cuter.

_ Remember the last time you tried to date? _

That wasn’t my fault.

He decided not to get into an argument with himself, so he blocked the voice out. When the laughter died down, Martha set a plate of eggs in front of Alex. He looked at her as to say,  _ I don’t need it. _ Martha gave him a look that the others couldn’t read, and he started to eat. He started off with small bites, but was eating at a normal pace after a few bites. 

John bounced into the kitchen and grabbed a glass. Going to the fridge, he used the ice dispenser. Well, he only got about three pieces in before he saw Alex flinch rather violently. He stopped and just filled his cup with water.

\----

_ Sensitive to loud, usually rough, noises. Noted. _

John had been taking mental notes on Alexander. He watched as Martha went over some rules for when they took Alex out shopping. He took a drink from his water as he watched Alexander fiddle with a bracelet that had beads all along it. He saw that he was saying something and was able to lip-read it.

“ _ Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree,  _

_ merry merry king of the bush is he.  _

_ Laugh, Kookaburra laugh.  _

_ Happy you must be. _ ”

When he noticed that John had been watching him, he stopped and looked down at his plate. John walked over and leaned over. He tilted his head slightly and smiled.

“Where’d you learn that?”

“Learn what?” His response was too fast. Too scripted.

“The song.”

“Mrs. Reynolds taught it to me. Mr. Reynolds told me to use it when I feel that my,” his pause seemed too long, and it was like he was trying not to remember something about it, “ _ problem _ flares up again.”

“I’m guessing that that’s the word for your anxiety?”

“How’d you know?”

“You’re in a new home, and there are things here that are  _ clearly _ bringing things up. Also, I remember that you have the strongest stomach of anyone I have ever met. Do you not remember the hot sauce incident at the Presidential Dinner?” He smiled as Alex chuckled lightly. “Also, my memories do the same thing. Although mine are not all that often, it still does happen.” The smile fell from his face. “I also know that Mr. Reynolds is a dickbasket.”

“John, language,” Martha said as she poked her head around the corner.

“Sorry, ma’am. Talking about an HL.”

“Then go ahead, and nothing  _ too _ vulgar.” Alexander gave him a weird look.

“What’s an HL?”

“You see, my father almost killed me.” He stopped for a second as Alex’s eyes became wide. “I got out of the house, bruises all over and bleeding from a scratch across my temple. I ran here, and Mrs. Washington called the police.”

“So  _ that’s _ why your father got arrested? Mr. Reynolds was considering bailing him out.”

“I’m happy that it wasn’t him that did that.” John gave a small smile. “Now, to continue the story, I told Mrs. Washington about everything that he had done. In response, she told Mr. Washington about it and he defended me in court. That’s also how I was able to live out of the house for a while before the court was assembled again and I had to go back. Apparently, you can do pretty much anything when you have enough money.”

“So how long did you live there after that?”

“About two weeks.”

“Laf told me about the thing, but didn’t go into that much detail.”

“Me being disowned?” Alex just gave a small nod. “No need to sugarcoat it, I’ve already gotten used to people talking about it.”

“I have a question,” Alexander said as Martha and Laf stopped talking to listen, but the other two didn’t notice. They were too involved in their own conversation. (And a bit in each other’s eyes.)

“Ask away.” Laf smiled as he noticed that Alexander had relaxed. His shoulders sat more naturally, and a smile was almost perpetually on his face. It wasn’t a big one, but it was just a small and relaxed one. He leaned on his arms as he listened. Alexander was too distracted to ask the question that he wanted to ask, so he asked the other one that had been on his mind.

“Do you know a guy around here named Aaron Burr?”


	4. Talk of Friends and Secrets

“Aaron Burr is a dickhead. How do you know him?”

“Aaron Burr was my foster brother,” Alexander snapped. John was taken aback by this. “He lives with Mr. Reynolds, and he’s the one that I saved by punching James Reynolds straight in the face.”

John almost choked on his water.

“Wait a minute, you punched  _ James Reynolds _ in the face?”

“He nearly killed Burr. Don’t tell him that I told you about this, he’ll know where I am and probably tell Reynolds about it.”

“Well, he’s kind of seen as a dick at our school, so I usually don’t end up associating with him or his friends.”

“Jefferson and Madison? Those two gay nerds are as cinnamon roll-esque as they get,” Alex laughed.

“What? Madison and Jefferson are dating?”

“Yeah,” Alex’s smile fell from his face. “Did you guys not know?”

“It’s been speculation for the longest time,” John smiled as he tucked a piece of his hair behind his ear. 

“Don’t expose them, their parents will probably kill them. The only reason that I know is because I walked into Mr. Reynold’s house when Aaron was having a party and the two were making out on the couch and they threatened to out me if I outed them.” Fuck. He did it again.

“Out you,” Laf asked as he leaned in through the doorway.

“Nothing of importance. I’ll talk about it later.” His response was too quick; too rehearsed.

“Yep, I’m inviting Herc, and we’re meeting at the Schuyler diner in the mall,” Laf smiled. Alex gave them a look of confusion. “Dude, you’re going to be hanging with the gayest  _ bouquet de chiennes _ you’ll ever meet. If you can talk to anyone about it, you can talk to us,” they laughed as they called someone. “Herc, I need you to meet us at the mall.” There was a pause, and Alex heard a worried voice on the other side. “No, nothing’s wrong. I just found another person to add to our  _ bouquet de chiennes. _ Talk to you soon. Bye!” With that, they hung up. “We’re dragging Herc with us on our shopping trip.”

“Herc,” Alex asked.

“Hercules. He’s a good friend of ours.” John leaned in. “Laf has a gigantic crush on him.” Alex began to chuckle as Laf whipped his head around.

“I admit that, but there’s no need to talk about it.”

“Hey,” John put his hands up in defence. “He was wondering about Herc, and that’s what I told him.” With that, Mr. Washington walked in.

“Hello, Mr. Washington,” Alexander smiled.

“Are you feeling better, Alexander?” He only nodded. “That’s good. Do you know what was wrong?” He shook his head. That’s a lie. “I do hope that you aren’t getting sick.” George smiled as he walked into the kitchen and grabbed a mug of coffee.

“Mom wanted to have John, Herc, and I take Alex out shopping for some things before he goes to school. Is that alright,” Laf asked as they hugged the man.

“I don’t want you guys out too late,” George smiled down at the other as he returned the hug using one arm, the other being the arm that was holding some papers and his coffee. Laf let go and leaned on the counter. “Just make sure not to forget him, alright,” George laughed.

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” John smiled as Alex stood to put his plate in the sink. Laf just grabbed it out of his hand, stuck it in the dishwasher, and practically dragged him up the stairs. John followed, a bit confused about the rush.

“ _ Tout va bien, _ ” Alex asked.

“Hercules had to sneak out again, so we don’t have much time.”

“How long do we have,” John said as they hurried into Alexander’s room and shut the door.

“Three hours? I think?” Laf took out their phone. “Yeah, about three hours.”

“Now, why are we in here,” Alex cut in.

“We need you to get in the shower, and waiting around downstairs is boring and a bit awkward. Get in the shower.” Laf smiled up at him from his phone and Alex went to the bathroom. Ignoring the toilet completely, he turned the shower on. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> bouquet de chiennes - Bunch of bitches
> 
> Tout va bien - (Rough translation) Is everything okay?


	5. Political Bombshells and Hidden Trauma

Laf and John sat on the bed and talked.

“There’s something that he isn’t telling us, Laf. I’m scared for him.”

“You’ve known him for a day. You’re probably just being paranoi-”

“Mr. Reynolds was pimping him out,” John blurted. “I wasn’t supposed to say anything.”

“The  _ petit savant _ ?” John only nodded as he began to fiddle with his hands. “How?”

He started to ramble. “You see, there’s been speculation that James has been a pimp for about as long as he’s been running for the different offices. The only reason that I know about it is because Alex came to my house one night after one of his clients took it too far. He was covered in gashes and places like his wrists and ankles were raw. I took care of his wounds and let him stay at my house for a few days, and Mr. Reynolds was about to _ fucking kill me _ when he found that he was staying with me.” John took a deep breath. “We can’t tell anyone.”

“We need to tell Martha and George!”

“We  _ can’t _ . Mr. Reynolds will do something about it if we do that now. Let’s wait, and we can tell them in a few weeks.”

“ _ John _ . We can’t just  _ not _ say anything.”

“Lafayette, you don’t understand. Moving from one politically active family to another means you have to wait before making certain things public.” John took a deep breath, trying to slow his heartbeat. “He’s been here a day. The thing is, if we tell them, they’ll tell the press. If the press is informed, the spotlight will be on Alex. They’ll bombard him with questions, mostly pertaining to the fact that he stayed with a family for a day, then told them that he was pimped out. I hate to have to do it too, but it’s for the sake of Alex.” 

Only seconds after he finished his sentence, they heard the shower stop.

“Could one of you toss my bag in here,” Alex yelled. John stood up, grabbing the bag as he walked towards the door. He opened the door and he was hit with a wall of steam. Alex stood wearing just the sweater he had on earlier and a towel. He hurried and handed Alex the backpack before turning and closing the door. “Thank you,” he laughed from behind the door. 

He walked out only seconds later wearing a light blue long-sleeve shirt and a pair of ripped black jeans. His hair was still slightly damp, pulled into a small bun. He and John made eye contact, and they smiled at each other.

“Let’s go so we can get this done,” Laf chuckled as the two broke eye contact.

“I really need to get back into the process of taking night-showers,” Alex muttered as he pulled his hair out of the bun. He began to run his hands through it and fluff it, not really caring about the frizz. John watched his face as he pulled his fingers through the knots. He didn’t flinch at them, rather he kept a straight face. When it was partially dry, which was when they were about halfway down the stairs, he quickly pulled it back into a bun.

“Are you guys all ready to go,” Martha asked when they got to the kitchen. Alex hurried to the fridge and grabbed one of the bottles of water. He quickly opened it and took a sip before walking back with the other two.

“Don’t stay out too late, don’t get into any trouble, and,” Martha glared at John, “ _no_ _starting fights._ ”

“Mrs. Washington, in my defense, it was one time and it was because the guy punched Laf in the face.”

“Nonetheless, try not to, alright?” The three started chuckling as Alex returned to them. “Alright, Alex, Laf has my credit card. Buy whatever you want for school. I have a list of things that are needed, but get whatever you like otherwise.” She put her hand on his shoulder. “Have fun.” The three walked towards the door, and Alex turned and gave a small wave before they left.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Petit savant - little scholar


	6. Savior of The Children

Alex had already drank all of his water, and they were still at least ten minutes from the mall.

This trip had already been death for him, and it had barely started. Now, it wasn’t all  _ bad _ death, but it was mostly the ‘uncomfortable-awkwardness’ kind of death. Laf had driven into some really fancy neighborhood. He stopped at a house, parking in the driveway.

“John, I’m booting you to the backseat,” Laf lightly shoved him, and John only pouted. He opened the door and left it open as he jumped into the seat next to Alex. All of a sudden this  _ fucking gigantic _ guy hurried into the front seat, carrying a bundle of blankets in one arm and using the other to walk with a little toddler.

“Is everything alright, Herc?” So  _ this  _ was Hercules. He handed John the bundle of blankets and the toddler climbed into the back seat, buckling themselves up.

“You know why I said that I have three hours,” Herc asked quickly. 

“Don’t tell me you’re really doing it,” Laf said, scared.

“He knocked Phillip unconscious.” Alex guessed that Phillip was the toddler, as John fluffed his hair lightly. “That was days ago and he just finally woke up yesterday.”

“Did he do anything to-”

“No, because she was still at daycare. I need to keep them out of the house.” Laf started driving.

“I’ll bring you to the house quickly, and we can drop them off.” They started speeding as they pulled up to the house. John unbuckled Phillip as Laf lightly grabbed the baby from John’s hands. Herc helped Phillip out of the car, and Alex followed. The little boy almost fell, so Alex caught him and carried him in. The boy seemed scared at first, but eventually relaxed as they all hurried into the house.

“Kids, you’re home so soon,” Martha said cheerily with her back turned from them.

“Mom, Herc did it.” She quickly spun around. “He got them out.”

“I was supposed to be babysitting them, but then Laf texted me and it seemed like a good idea,” Herc said, seeming to get more worried as time went on.

“What happened, Hercules,” Martha asked as she walked forward to take the baby from Laf’s arms.

“He knocked Phillip unconscious a few days ago. He just woke up yesterday,” Laf said quietly. They all heard George come down the stairs from his study. When the small boy saw Mr. Washington, he hurried and clung to the man’s leg. George looked up at Herc and gave him a look.

“You did it?” Herc only nodded. “Well, the children can stay here until you are all done with your shopping. We’ll get some planning done after that.” George leaned down and lifted up the child. He hurried his head onto the man’s shoulder and smiled. Herc saw that he was whispering something to the man.

“We should go and get this done before my parents get home. I need to be here to do my best to fend my dad off,” Herc smiled as he finished his sentence. The taller boy only walked over and gave both his brother and sister a kiss on the head before they walked back out to the car.

\----

“Now, could someone fill me in,” Alex asked as they all rode in silence.

“My dad’s an asshole to my younger siblings, and I’ve been planning to get them out of there for months now. The babysitter cancelled, so I had to be the fill-in. With that, I was able to get them out. Mr. Washington said that when I got them out, he could house them until we got it out to the press.” He saw that Alex was confused at the last sentence, so he gave an explanation. “My father is a politician, and a shitty one at that.”

“My last foster father was a politician,” Alex replied grimly.

“Who was he?”

“James Reynolds.”


	7. Shopping, Flannels, and Ideas

“That  _ pimping asshole _ ? How’d you survive?” Herc was in shock.

“Not  _ all _ of my clients were bad. A few of them actually helped me get out of the business for a few weeks before Reynolds found me again.” And he did it again.

“You were pimped out? You’re, like, the most innocent person that I’ve met!” Alex took a deep breath before making a face. This was the face that he used to get more money out of his clients or even to get new ones. It was the one that Mr. Reynolds made him perfect. Herc became flustered after about three seconds. “Okay, fine, I believe you. Stop that.” He dropped the face and smiled as he leaned back in his seat.

“Told you so.” Laf and John were sitting in silence as they watched this exchange. Well, Laf was driving, and John was just staring in amazement. Alex leaned back in his chair as Laf pulled into the parking lot of the mall. When he found a spot, it was really close to the door. They all got out and Laf locked the car before putting the key fob in his pocket. Everyone followed them as Herc was walking next to them, John and Alex trailed behind. Alex began to scratch at his arms. His ideas were coming back. Essays, speeches, ideas. They were all flooding back to him.

“You okay, Alex,” John asked as they approached the door.

“Do you have a marker?” John pulled a dark blue marker out of his pocket and handed it to Alex. He rolled his sleeve up and began to write as they walked. He was somehow able to dodge the flood of people in the mall as he wrote on his arm.

John just watched in amazement as they all walked up to the first store. Alex had finished when they walked in, and his arm was covered in blue writing. Laf turned around and smiled, but saw the blueness of his arms. They gave him a weird look.

“I’m getting my ideas again, and I don’t have my notebook with me,” Alex shrugged, but had a smile on his face. “While I was living in the other houses, I wasn’t able to write. I lost my ideas, they just stopped. They’re back now, and it feels good to have the chatter back.” The other three only smiled as they all walked into the first store.

“Find whatever you want, Alex. I’m going to see if there’s a new shipment in yet.” With that, Laf disappeared, Hercules trailing behind him. That was most likely to make sure that he didn’t get lost. 

That left John and Alex alone.

“I’ve been in this store many times, so I know what I’m doing,” John smiled. “What do you have in mind?”

“I’m not all that sure. I haven’t gone clothes shopping in a while, so I don’t really know.”

“Let’s try flannels. They’re warm, and you can roll the sleeves.” Alex nodded and John led him over to a wall just  _ full _ of different colors of flannel. “You look like someone who wants to be warm.”

“No matter how long I’ve lived here, it’s still never as warm as Nevis. That’s the kind of warmth that I’m used to.”  _ Being here isn’t the only reason that I’m cold.  _ He didn’t say that last part out loud, that would just raise suspicion. He reached out for a second to try to feel the fabric of one of them, but flinched back before his hand came in contact with it. Alex stepped back to get a look at all of the colors. 

“Which one do you like?” Alex only pointed at one that was far out of his reach. It was a light blue and green one, and it seemed very loose. John grabbed this ‘metal-cane-hook-thing’, that is what Alex called it in his head, and hooked the first one that was on the rack. He let the thing slide through his hand until the end hit the floor. Alex reached and grabbed the hanger. John put the thing away as Alex turned around.

The first thing that caught his eye was a shirt with a  _ horrible _ pun on it.

He hurried over to it, with it being across the store and all. John followed him, chuckling as he dodged the other shoppers. He jumped right when he stopped and grabbed the shirt from the rack, which John would have probably had to use the hook to get to. John, mildly impressed, watched as Alex read the shirt and proceeded to burst out laughing. The other finally caught up and read the shirt. He cringed at the joke.

‘Past, present, and future walked into a bar. It was tense.’

John just frowned, but it was a comical frown. Alex looked over, and his laughter was cut off by someone speaking.

“If it isn’t our favorite little Jacky boy.”


	8. Blood and Bad Puns

John turned and saw Charles Lee standing in front of them. Burr, Jefferson, and Madison were standing behind him. Alex saw that Jefferson and Madison had their hands linked, but they were hiding it.

“I see our little Jack found a new little fucktoy,” Lee sneered.

“Shut the hell up, Lee,” Alex snapped. John put a hand on his shoulder, trying to tell him to back off. 

But, that’s just not like Alexander at all.

“What are you going to do?” Lee stepped forward and tried to size Alex up.

“Lee, quit being a dickbasket.” Alex stepped forward again, and the other was taken aback. “You don’t remember me do you?”  He held his hand out as he backed up. “Alexander Hamilton. Well, Alexander Hamilton-Washington as of now.”

“Alex,” Burr spoke quietly. Leaning over, Alex got a better look at Burr, and was horrified. There was bruises all over his face, and his cheeks had sunken into his face. His eyes had dark bags under them, and he was hunched. Burr hurried forward and hugged Alex.

“What the hell are you doing, Burr? He’s the one that caused what happened,” Lee yelled.

“I did nothing of the sort, Lee.” He gave a soft glance at Burr. “Aaron was my foster-brother before I was kicked out.” His voice was soft, as to not disturb the boy he was holding. “I saved him from being suffocated.” He leaned to whisper to the other. “I’m going to get you out. I just need to make a plan, alright? I’ll get you out of there.” Aaron backed up slowly.

“What the hell is he talking about, Burr?”

“Everything he says is true, Lee. He lived with me for a while, but got kicked out because he saved me.”

“We’re talking about this later, Burr.” Lee stepped forward to John and grabbed the collar of his shirt. “And this isn’t the end of this conversation, got it?”

John kept a straight face. “ _ Brûler en enfer, bâtard _ ,” he spat as Lee wound up to punch him. Alex, just being Alex, hurried in and was able to get John out of Lee’s grip. Nonetheless, he was too slow to get out of his way himself and took a blow to the ribs. He stumbled back and coughed into his arm.

“Yep,” he said loud enough for Lee to hear him. “I just coughed up blood.” He coughed again before turning to John. “We should probably go.” John looked around to try to find Lafayette and Hercules. They had just walked out of the back room.

“Our shopping trip’s been cut short,” John yelled. “We need to leave.” Lafayette was confused, but Hercules ran over.

“What the hell happened?”

“Lee landed a blow on me.” Lee was backing up, intent on leaving. Herc grabbed him by the collar of his shirt.

“You’re not going anywhere,” he growled. “You’re coming with us.” Herc used one arm to lift Alex up, and the other to drag Lee. After a few seconds of struggling, Herc had his hand on the back of Lee’s shirt and Alex was sitting on Herc’s shoulder. Literally. Just on one of his shoulders.

“I can walk, Hercules. This has happened before.” Alex coughed into his sleeve once again, causing the bloodstain to become larger.

“Dude, you probably have a fractured rib. We’re going to the hospital.” John saw Alex tense up as they got out to the parking lot and right next to the car. As a response, he backflipped off of Herc’s shoulder and landed on his knees. 

“Alexander,” John said coldly. He knew he shouldn’t be harsh, but Alex’s health is at risk. “Get in the car. We’re going to the hospital.”

“They’re going to kick me out of the house.”

“Who is?”

“Mr. and Mrs. Washington! Who else?” This yelling made him cough blood up once again. He wheezed before coughing again. John just lifted him up and opened the car door.

Alex didn’t struggle as he fell unconscious.


	9. Unconscious Flashbacks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Henry Laurens wasn't always a piece of shit. Well, he wasn't as big of one as he is now.

 

John’s arms were warm, and he smelled of something that Alex couldn’t place. He thinks it was vanilla, but it could have been something else. Peppermint? No, it wasn’t that strong. It took a second, but he finally placed it. 

It was the scent of vanilla cookies. 

He remembered the scent from when he had stayed at John’s house, and he had made them on the first morning. Well, Alex had woken up to the scent and remembered what had happened the night before. Worried, he had sprinted down the stairs just to see  _ where the hell he had ended up? _

Now, this was the moment where he tripped.

He would have had his face smashed into the hardwood floor if John hadn’t ran over and caught him. John, nearly slipping in the process, ran over and held the boy’s shoulder. His touch was light, but heavy enough to hold him up.

“Alexander,” his voice was soft and smooth. “You should have stayed in bed.”

“Where am I?” Alex’s voice was loud in comparison.

“You don’t remember anything about last night, do you?”

He thought for a second. “I remember what happened, but I still don’t know why I am here.”

“You aren’t leaving this house until you are better. I promise things will be alright. My dad knows yours and is going to try to get into contact with him.” John smiled as he help Alex into a chair. “Now, what do you remember?”

“I went to see my client. Things went well, but more or less took a turn for the worst.” he began to wring his hands. “I-I remember falling unconscious for a moment, two or three minutes tops. When I woke up, I was tied up. Like, I was tied to the bed. I had rope around my wrists and ankles, but my chest was also bound. It was really hard to breathe.” He stopped and took a shaky breath. “I don’t remember much of what happened within the next while.” That’s horseshit, Alex remembers it all. “Next thing I know, I ran here. I didn’t get paid, I didn’t grab anything that I had. I just up and left.”

“Client?” John took a second to absorb the story. Then, he slammed his hands on the counter. “I was right!”

“Right about what?”

“Do you not know about the speculation?”

“What?”

“There’s been speculation that Reynolds is a pimp, and it’s been around for the longest time.” John took a deep breath. “We knew he was pimping at least one of his kids out.”

“Well,” Alex sighed. “I’m the kid.”

“How old are you, Alexander?”

“I’m seventeen, what about you?”

“I’m sixteen.” Alex only nodded at his answer. John turned around and grabbed a plate. He turned back around. “Want a cookie?” Alex reluctantly reached out and grabbed one. He took a small bite, but then realized that this was probably the best cookie that he had ever had. John saw that he was distracted and decided that this was the time to ask this. “Alex, how long has it been since you ate?”

“A full meal? About a week and a half or so. Like a snack or anything? A few weeks. The snack thing’s only own free will, and the meal thing kind of is too.” Alex stopped eating the cookie when he finally thought about what had just come out of his mouth. 

“I can make you some food if you want.” John was relieved that it had worked.

“I… I…” Alex was at a loss for words. “I’m not hungry.”

“Excuse my language, Alexander, but I know that that is bullshit.” The voice was of Henry Laurens, who had just walked down the stairs. “I know that Mr. Reynolds was a piece of shit. Well, he  _ is _ a piece of shit.” He smiled. “Could you please eat?”


	10. Waking Moments and Quotes

Alex woke up groggy. When he heard a steady _beep...beep...beep_ , he knew where he was. The room was pitch black with the exception of a phone on its lowest brightness setting. He tried to sit up, but a hand lightly pressed him back down into the pillow.

“Alex,” it was John. His voice was soft. “You’re okay.”

“Where am I?”

“You’re in the hospital. The blow you took for me fractured three of your ribs, and you have to be here for a few days.”

“What time is it?”

“Three in the morning on August 15th, 2015. It’s a Saturday.”

“How long have I been here?”

“Two days, both of which you were unconscious.”

“How long have you slept?”

“I haven’t.”

“Why not?”

“I couldn’t.”

“Have you left this room?”

“They kicked me out on the first day, but Washington pulled some strings and the hospital has let me stay in here.” Alex seemed confused. “He pretty much explained who I was, who he was, and who my father was.” John let out a soft laugh. “He may have also said that you and I were dating.”

“What?”

“Yeah, that was my reaction too. That was the only way they would have let me stay here.”

“You should be at home!” Alex was beyond confused. “You should be with Lafayette and Hercules to make sure one of them doesn’t have a heart attack or something because of this!”

“Laf’s actually sleeping in the other chair in Herc’s lap.”

“Why are you guys here?”

“You’re our friend, Alex. We can’t just leave you here.”

“You guys have known me for three days, and I was unconscious during two of those three.”

“Well, you were drifting in and out of consciousness. You said some… pretty fucked up shit.” John started laughing as he flipped his screen towards the ceiling. “Nonetheless, I think that you should see this.” He opened a video.

It was when they were in the store.

It showed what happened. Aaron and Alex’s reunion, the words exchanged between John and Lee. Most importantly, it showed what Alex had done to defend his friend.

“What ‘fucked up shit’ did I say?” Alex didn’t want to talk about the video. John opened another app in his phone and opened a document.

“I was able to get some of it typed, but I only typed the really bad stuff.” He read over it quickly before looking up. “There were some things about your clients, about James, about some of your other homes, what Reynolds was doing to Burr. The list goes on and on.”

“Give me some quotes.”

“ ‘James Reynolds was an asshole of a parent, and there’s no other way to say it. He pimped me out for the year that I was there, even making me perform acts with him for my meals. This was something that I had to do weekly. I would do it once a week and get my meals covered until that Sunday, when I would do it again.’ ” Alex heard John’s voice crack with tears. “ ‘He did things that I know that I can never mention if I wasn’t in this much pain. Nonetheless, I am going to do it anyways.’ ”

“ ‘I was sixteen when he started pimping me out, I was well below the legal age of consent. His clients didn’t care, they just wanted something quick. Although, there were the ones that would prolong _my_ suffering and make these things go on for hours and hours on end. You know, you keeping me at your house probably the reason that I hadn’t dropped from food deprivation or something else sooner. I refused to do the weekly thing, hence I didn’t eat. I was homeschooled through all of this, except for the last month of it when I was allowed to go to Liberty High.’ ” John reached forward as he saw Alex began to shake. Alex shook his head as the other set their phone down.

“Don’t read anymore,” his voice was soft and tear-filled. “Just… Don’t. Please.” John took a deep breath as he saw that Alexander began to scoot to the far edge of the bed. The other was confused until Alex patted the bed. “Come and sit.” John reluctantly sat on the bed, letting his feet dangle off of the edge. Alex tugged his arm, telling him to turn. John kicked his shoes off before turning around to face the other. They locked eyes as they heard shuffling in the corner. John turned his head and saw that Hercules had just moved to wrap his arms around Lafayette.

“They’d be really cute together,” John whispered as Alex nodded in agreement. “I mean, Laf doesn’t really seem like the type of person to just settle down with one person, but I think that Herc could change that.” He turned back to Alex.

“Yeah.” Alex was at a loss for words. John’s phone sat in his lap, illuminating his face with a glow that could only be described as heavenly. His freckles were accentuated with the artificial light from the screen and his hair had a frizz to it. Alex’s small smile fell from his face when he saw the bags under his eyes, which held a tired look in them. “Lay down and sleep.” John scooted down so his head was next to Alex’s, taking in a deep breath to calm himself.

“I’m sorry about this. Lee is just such an asshole, and I really just needed to get him to shut up.”

“You’re fine, John.” Alex’s smile returned to his face. “I’d take a rib-fracturing punch to the gut for you any day.” Alex let his head lean on John’s shoulder. “These past three days are the most sleep that I have gotten in about a year.”

“Well, you have a lot of catching up to do,” John leaned his head on Alex’s.

This was how they fell asleep; at four in the morning, on a hospital bed, leaning on each other with tear streams still fresh on their face. Nonetheless, it was a peaceful sleep for the both of them.


	11. Talk About It All

Let’s just say, Mr. and Mrs. Washington were pretty surprised when they were called in the morning because their child was in the hospital with three fractured ribs.

Mr. Washington was the first one to show up, at six in the morning. He stood next to Alexander’s bed, observing the sight before him. John Laurens had his arms wrapped around Alexander’s shoulder, and the other was using John’s chest as a pillow. John’s right hand, the same arm that was around Alex’s shoulder, was intertwined in Alex’s hair, which was still in the same bun from the day before. He smiled as he lightly shook Alex’s arm.

“Alexander,” he whispered as Alex’s eyes shot open. The first thing he realized was that he was in John’s arms, so that relaxed him a bit. The worry returned to his eyes when he saw who was standing above him.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Washington.”

“For what, my boy?”

“For being in the hospital.”

“You took a blow for a friend. At least you didn’t start the fight.” Alex took a deep breath in as George continued. “I saw the video.”

“The one from in the store?” Alex gained a look of fear in his eyes as George nodded.

“There is no need to be scared, Alexander. I will not hurt you. I am only confused about one thing.” Alex perked up slightly. “What did you mean about ‘getting Burr out of there’?”

“Burr’s being pimped instead of me now.” And he fucked up for about the fourth time in the day and a half he has been consciously living with the Washingtons’.

“So, we were right?”

“Did  _ everyone _ have this speculation?” George only chuckled as he nodded. “That was why I was sick on the first morning. I had some memories, and they grossed me out pretty badly.” Alex took another deep breath, but it was ragged and rough.

“How do you feel?”

“Better. My chest just hurts.”

“Well, you  _ do _ have three fractured ribs.”

“That wasn’t my fault, you know.” Alex broke eye contact with George and reached his hand up to John’s hand that was in his hair. He carefully fiddled with his hand as he frowned. “Lee was saying some things, and I’m not the type of person that just lets that stuff go. Now, I wasn’t planning to start a fight, but he was going to punch John. I just dove in without thinking, but wasn’t fast enough to move myself out of the way.”

“Might you be able to tell me what he said?”

“He was making some comments about John’s sexuality and things of the sort. Now, John  _ did _ swear at him in French after he threatened to try to start a fight. That’s when Lee wound up trying to punch him and I got him out of Lee’s grip. Now, I wasn’t paying too much attention after that and took the blow.” Alex felt John shift his arm, moving the hand that was in his hair so that it was now laying on top of Alex’s hand.

“I should have taken that blow, Alex,” John mumbled, slowly waking up.

“I’ve dealt with enough fractured ribs, and things that are worse. That blow probably would have punctured a lung or something if you fractured any ribs.”

“I’ve fractured a few ribs in my lifetime as well, Alex,” John chuckled. He leaned his head up and smiled. “Good morning, Mr. Washington.”

“Good morning, John,” George chuckled. “Have the nurses come in yet?”

“Not that I am aware of.”

“Very well.” George sat in the chair that was next to the bed.

“Alex woke up at about three this morning,” John chuckled. “Scared the living shit out of me.” John’s smile fell. “Also, sir, I have something I think that you should see.” John reopened the typed document of when Alexander was drifting in and out of consciousness. “Alex was drifting between being unconscious and awake, and he said some things that I think that you should see.” John handed him the phone, and he put on a pair of reading glasses. With that, Alex watched George’s face as it went from neutral to completely and utterly  _ fucking terrified _ .

“You know what the good part about this is,” George said as he handed John back his phone, wiping the tears from his eyes in the process. “I have a debate with him tomorrow.”

“Please don’t bring this up,” Alex spoke quietly, his voice rough. “I want to be the one to do it.”

“Then, I’ll bring you with me.” George smiled. “The nurses that I spoke with this morning said that you will most likely be able to leave later today or tomorrow morning.” Alex only nodded. “May we use this as evidence?” Alex nodded again, and John felt him begin to shake. The other tightened his grip around his shoulder.

“Should we tell him about the hot sauce incident at the Washington Dinner,” John whispered as Alex nodded at this suggestion, happy to change the subject. 

“Alright, I have a hilarious story,” Alex smiled. “The dinner you hold every year. You know how two people got kicked out this year.” George was suspicious about this sudden change but nodded anyways. “Yeah, that was John and I.” George started laughing.

“But, how did we get kicked out,” John laughed. “We put the hot sauce in the wine.”

“That was you two,” George laughed, now nearly falling out of his chair. “Why?”

“I bet Alex five hundred bucks a week before that he wouldn’t do it,” John smiled. “Then he grabbed a bottle of ghost pepper hot sauce out of his bag and poured it into the wine.”

“The  _ entire bottle _ ?” Alex started laughing again as he nodded. “Wait a minute, you two knew each other?”

“Our fathers were good friends, and there was another situation.” John shot Alex a look, and he nodded. John proceeded. “Alex ran to my house after a client injured him pretty bad. He stayed at my house for about two weeks before James found him. Oh  _ lord _ , he almost killed me.” John tried to keep the mood light. “Nonetheless, it was a pretty big surprise when we met again.”

“Still, back to the topic on hand.” George paused. “Were you guys the ones that put the fake worms in the pasta and replaced the sugar with salt?”

“We did the salt thing, but not the worms thing.”

“That was Aaron,” Alex said quietly. “Speaking of him, we need to get him away from Reynolds as well.”

“Aaron is with him,” George asked, surprised. Alex nodded.


	12. Doctors, Surprises, and Chaos

“He was my foster brother. That’s how I knew him.” Alex shrugged. “He has been forced into my place of work, and I have to get him out. He’s older than I am, but he looked like a lost kid the last time I saw him.” He felt tears forming in his eyes. “Him and I argue often, we almost never agree on anything. We would make debates just to make sure we could always argue. After a while, Mr. Reynolds stopped letting Aaron eat as often. He was just so tired, and he was like a stick before I left. I had been saving my money up and using some of it to take Aaron out to get food, but I got caught eventually and Mr. Reynolds held on to the money after that and I had to ask him for it.” He was cut off by the familiar sound of the doctor’s voice floating from in the hall.

John hurried off of the bed and helped Alexander back into the middle of it. The voice is what woke Laf and Herc up, and Lafayette just tipped backwards and into the chair next to them.

“Hamilton?” The doctor’s voice was smooth.

“Hello Dr. Seabury.”

“Long time, no see.” He smiled. “How is Mr. Reynolds doing?”

“I am no longer in the Reynolds’ household, so I am unsure of his state as of now.” John was surprised. He had never seen Alex talk so formally, but listened nonetheless.

“What was the problem? This house seemed like a good fit for you.”

“Reynolds did something, I got angry, and I punched him. The man was very quick to send me back.”

“When was this?” The doctor began to check different things.

“Less than a week ago.”

The doctor then noticed the others in the room. “Vice President Washington, wonderful to see you.”

“As to you, Samuel,” Washington replied coldly. John watched this exchange in amazement, but it was a confused amazement. “Just to confirm something, my son will be able to return today at the earliest and tomorrow at the latest?”

“Yes, if he is feeling alright. We will just have to give him a rib belt and he can be on his way.” George nodded.

“Very well. We have some work that we need to get done for tomorrow’s debate, and it would be of my best interest to bring him home today, if at all possible.”

“Well, I will have to check with his family doctor, and we can see where things go from there.” Washington only nodded as Seabury walked out. Only a few seconds later, a woman walked in.

“Alexander,” the woman whispered and he knew exactly who it was.

“Maria, how did you find me?”

“It’s all over the news, and I was able to get some contacts. Now I really need to tell you this.” Alex stayed silent as she spoke, clearly distressed. “James has been getting worse. I can’t cover for him for much longer. He has been-”

“-pimping Aaron out. I know. I was able to make that assumption pretty easily. What else is he doing?”

“He’s been getting worse.” Alex’s eyes went wide.

“What did he do?”

She closed her eyes. “It’s every night now, Alexander. You’re the only person I can tell since you are the only one out of the house. I can’t take it anymore.” Washington shot Alex a confused look.

“Oh. Mr. Washington, meet Mrs. Maria Reynolds. She was probably the best foster mother that I had.” He smiled. “Maria, this is my foster father, George Washington.”

“I know who he is, darling. He is the one that James is debating with tomorrow.”

“Speaking of which,” George spoke somberly as he stood. “We plan on exposing him tomorrow. Alexander gave us evidence while drifting in and out of consciousness due to an injury involving a fight.”

“It wasn’t a fight. Lee was going to punch John, and I got him out of the way. Still, I ended up taking the blow instead.” Alex smiled. “It was more of me acting before thinking.” Suddenly, her phone rang. She took it out and a look of fear was on her face. She answered the phone.

“Hello, dear.” Her voice was shaky. “Where am I? I just went out for a while, to go and visit an old friend.” There was a pause. “There’s no need, I can get home.” She flinched at the sound of a yelling voice on the other end. “Very well, I’ll see you soon.” With that, she hung up. “I’m going to go back to the waiting room, so that he doesn’t find you.” Maria hurried forward and planted a small kiss on his forehead before nodding to Mr. Washington and hurrying out of the room. They all sat confused, except for Alex.

Alex wore a look of worry on his face.

\----

Alexander was out of the hospital in the next few hours, having to wear a rib belt for the next few weeks.

“Herc, you don’t have to carry me,” Alex spat, clearly annoyed.

“I’m going to carry you whether you like it or not.” Hercules was amused by the other’s reaction. “You’re just going to have to deal with it for now.” Alexander made a noise of distress, lifting his head to look at John.

“Help me,” Alex mouthed to John. He only laughed. In response, Alex flipped him off and shut his eyes. John watched him for the next few seconds. Alex’s face had paled, and he has started shaking. He realized what was happening and began to think. It was then that he had a plan. He hurried over to the opposite side of Herc, he began to whisper to him.

“Let me take over. He’s a bit distressed,” John whispered and Herc stopped. While Alex was confused as to why they had stopped, Herc set him on John’s back. “You okay now, Alex?” He only nodded as he rested his head on John’s shoulder. They continued walking, Lafayette being suspiciously silent. Hercules turned around and saw that they were on the phone. When he noticed that there were tears in their eyes, he handed John the keys to the car.

“Laf, what’s wrong?”

“George was on the phone with Alex’s social worker, and it’s not good.” Laf’s voice was shaky. “Reynolds wasn’t the first person to involve sexual acts in his abuse, it was in almost all of his houses.”


	13. Burr and The Adams Administration

“How many were there?”

“There were eighteen houses all together.” Laf took a deep breath. “What we have is only the surface of what is going on.” They watched John help Alex into the car. They were both laughing as they struggled. “John might just be the last thing in his life that he loves.”

“What makes you think that?”

“John’s been in his life longer than you think. He helped him get out of ten of those houses, the Reynolds’ house included.” He took a deep breath. “John works with an organization that gets abused foster kids out from their families and somewhere safe. Alex was John’s mission every single time.” Laf smiled, but there was a hint of sadness in it.

“So those were the rescues he was going on?” Laf nodded. 

“It actually hilarious because the agency appreciates their work. It gets them out without having to have it go public.”

“This is the kind of shit that needs to go public,” Herc spat before he hurried and Laf followed. 

John had finally gotten Alex into the car and they were both singing along to the radio. Hercules started laughing as he got in the driver’s seat, and Lafayette got in the passenger seat. They still didn’t notice that the other two were in the car until it started moving. The two stopped mid-word when they realized that the car was moving.

“How long have you guys been in here,” John asked.

“Since the last song, dude,” Herc smiled as they stopped at the stoplight. “I gotta admit though, you guys are pretty good singers.” Herc glanced at Alex through the rearview mirror. “You’re in Choir, right?” Alex nodded. “Good. We’re bumping you to Honor with John, Laf, and I.”

“Can you do that,” Alex asked.

“Burr is the vice president of the student council, so it won’t be hard.” John smiled and Alex returned it. The air was tense.

“John, we know about your missions,” Lafayette blurted.

“How the hell do you know about  _ those _ ?” Alex was confused. What missions?

“George was on the phone with someone and they told him about it.”

“Who told him?” Lafayette was silent. “Lafayette, who was it?” 

“I can’t say.” The space in the car was now even more tense.

“I am ungodly confused, so can someone fill me in?”

“You were my mission in your first nine houses and your last one. I work to get abused foster kids out of their houses. I do these missions all of the time, and I didn’t think anyone knew.” John fluffed his own ponytail. “I work with the agency, and I get them out without causing attention from the media. It’s for the sake of those rescued.” Suddenly, his phone rang. “Speak of the devil,” he muttered.

Alex took a deep breath and looked out the window as he listened to the phone call. “J Laur here, what’s up?” There was silence. “The Adams Administration? Don’t you remember what happened last time? We were nearly shot!” He stopped as the person spoke again. “Aaron Burr? He’s there? Why is he there? He was a mission? You guys got him out?” Alex smiled and let out a small cheer. “And we have to get into the Admin? Damn.” John took a deep breath as the man on the other line continued. “Tonight? I can try! That doesn’t mean I won’t need help though. I’ll be at the agency at seven, and we can plan.” With that, he hung his phone up.

“They have Burr?” Alex was ecstatic.

“We don’t have him, but the Adams Administration does. They’re a shelter on the Liberty side of town, and they hate us. We need to get him out of there, because if they find that he has ties to someone who knows a Karens,” John cut himself off with a laugh. “We probably won’t find him  _ alive _ if that happens.”

“The Adams Administration knows me, so I could probably get him out,” Alex laughed.


	14. Harsh Tones and Tired Days

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> My updates will now only be once a day, or every few days because my school has blocked this site from our laptops, where I do most of my work and posting.

“I’ve been in there more than once.” He stopped laughing. “I’m marked with them, so I guess that this is something I probably should have told you.” He lifted up his hair and showed a large scar that was surprisingly smooth. It was two a’s in cursive in a circle, and seemed almost like a tattoo.

“You’re marked with the Adams Admin? What the hell? We know all of his associates!”

“I’m a drop. I  _ was _ an associate, but got dropped after going with the Reynolds to live with them.” He dropped his hair. “I ended up back there a few weeks into living there, so I didn’t need to get remarked. Then, Mr. Reynolds found me and I wasn’t able to go there.” He sighed. “Let’s not talk about this right now.”

\----

The car ride back to the house was quiet, other than the radio playing quietly in the background. Alexander was still writing on his arm, his essays still in the dark blue marker along his arms. John watched in amazement at how fast he was writing, but was even more amazed when Alex switched arms and continued to write just as quickly.

“You’re ambidextrous?” Alex gave a hum as he continued. He quickly filled that arm, so he put the marker in his other hand and wrote on the top of his right arm. John tried to read his arm, but couldn’t from where he was sitting. Loosening his seatbelt, he leaned over and rested his head on Alex’s shoulder as he read. “How do you come up with these?”

“Observation.” Alex bumped him with his arm, silently telling him to move. John back up a bit and Alex continued on the other arm. About halfway through writing on his right arm, he stopped with a period and handed John back the pen. “Thanks for letting me use that.” John hummed in response before taking the pen and putting it in his sweater pocket. 

They pulled up to the house, and Herc hurried out of the car. With that, John also hurried before Alex would try to get out by himself. Herc opened the door and helped Alex onto John’s back. Alex just smiled and felt his face get red as he buried it into John’s shoulder. Well, it was mostly from the fact that it was  _ fucking bright _ outside and it hurt his eyes.

“Are you okay, Alex,” John asked.

“Yeah, it’s just really bright.” His voice was muffled by John’s shoulder. They all hurried inside. John carried Alex up the stairs while Hercules and Lafayette went into the kitchen. 

“Which is your room? I’m drawing a blank.”

“First on the right.”

John walked into the room, setting Alex on the bed. While Alex held his hands on his eyes, John closed the curtains. When John tapped him on the shoulder, he jumped and took his hands off his eyes. The other sat on the bed next to him, one of his feet flat on the floor and the other being wrapped with his leg on the bed.

“Alex, I know everything isn’t alright.”

“No shit,” Alex muttered.

“Might you be able to tell me about it? I don’t want you to have those memories eating at your thoughts.”

“I don’t want to talk about it.” Alex swallowed hard. “I don’t want anyone to know."

“Why don’t you want anyone to know? We’re here for you.  _ I’m  _ here for you.” John looked at Alex. Alex looked at John. They just stared at each other.

“I’ve never had anyone to talk about these things to.” Alex looked so scared. His eyes were large, and his voice was shaking. The fire in his eyes was as bright as ever, but it was a defensive burn. “No one has really cared enough.”

“We care about you, Alexander. We  _ want _ to know what’s wrong, what’s eating at you, and how we can help.”

“JUST QUIT ASKING!”


	15. Talking, Yelling, And a Bit of Spanish

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I AM SORRY FOR THE FACT THAT THERE HAS NOT BEEN AN UPDATE IN THE PAST FEW DAYS, WORK IS KICKING MY ASS AND SO IS SCHOOL.

John was taken aback by hearing Alex yell. He had heard Alex yell when they had first gotten to know each other, as he would get into any argument that he could. This wasn’t the Alex that he knew, this quiet and terrified Alex. The Alex that only yelled because his walls were building up and were only getting higher and higher as time went on. John just stared at him.

“I...I… I’m sorry,” Alex whispered as he winced. He was expecting some sort of blow; a punch or a slap or harsh words.

“There is no need. I am sorry for trying to push you to talk about it.” John’s voice was soft, and it was smooth. He held his arms open, offering a hug. Alex scooted next to him, leaning his head on the other’s chest. John wrapped his arms around the smaller boy as they heard a knock at the door.

“Is everything alright?” It was Martha.

“Everything’s okay, Mrs. Washington,” John replied as he turned his head towards the door. “We’ll be downstairs in a little bit.”

“Alrighty, dear. Take as much time as you need.” With that, she was gone. As soon as Alex could no longer hear her footsteps, he started sobbing into John’s chest. His shoulders shook with ragged breaths and his grip tightened on the front of John’s shirt. John rubbed his back as he kept his arms wrapped around the other.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean it.” He kept repeating those for the next few minutes between sobs until John heard him speak one sentence.

“ _I didn’t mean anything I said, please don’t hurt me._ ”

\----

Alex hadn’t meant to start crying. It just happened. He was trying not to, John would leave if he did. Still, he burst out crying as soon as he couldn’t hear Martha’s footsteps. He felt John move, so Alex loosened his grip.

He thought that John was going to stand up, but he just reached around and began to rub his back.

He started rambling, but it wasn’t like he was trying to. It was when he made a comment, that he doesn’t even really remember at this point, that John’s breath hitched.

“ _Nadie te va a hacer daño_ , _lo prometo_ ,” John cooed. “ _No voy a permitir que eso ocurra_.”

“John,” Alex laughed, the tears still thick in his voice. “You know that I don’t speak Spanish.”

“That’s the point of it. You aren’t supposed to know what I said. It wasn’t anything bad, I promise. It’s just meant to be soothing.” John held him closer. Alex’s sobs slowed to shaky and shallow breaths with tears that soaked into John’s shirt every once and awhile.

“Let’s go,” Alex said as he stood up. “We need to go downstairs.”

“Alex,” John said as he held Alex’s shoulder. “You need to rest.”

“My rest isn’t as important as my family.”

“They’ll understand. You were just in the hospital.”

“I was _sleeping_ in the hospital."

“You were knocked out so you didn’t suffer through the pain.” John pushed his hand down on Alex’s shoulder, causing him to sit down again. “You can sleep for a while here, and I am going to go and talk with Mr. and Mrs. Washington.” Alex nodded, but it wasn’t all that happy. “I can stay here if you want.” Alex shook his head.

“I can fall asleep eventually.” John nodded at this response. He stood and smiled before leaning down and pressing a kiss onto Alex’s forehead.

“Sleep well, Alexander.” And with that, he was out of the room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nadie te va a hacer daño, lo prometo - No one will hurt you , I promise  
> No voy a permitir que eso ocurra - I will not let that happen
> 
> (this is Google Translate Spanish, so if it is wrong, feel free to correct me)


	16. File Sharing

John practically ran down the stairs. When he got to the kitchen, Herc and Laf were already sitting in the kitchen with Martha and George.

“Alright, has anyone found anything else out?” George leaned on his arms. They all shook their heads.

“John, you’d be the one to find anything.”

“He refuses to say anything,” John snapped. “As soon as Martha was out of earshot, he started crying.” He swallowed hard to stop himself from having the same fate. “He cried as he clung onto me and was scared that I would hurt him. He was scared that because he was showing his true emotions and letting out everything he had bottled up, that I was going to hurt him. We need more information on his other houses. We need names, and we need information.” John slammed his fist down on the counter. “He doesn’t deserve to be living like that. He’s intelligent, and could have a wonderful future ahead of him. We need to help him.” John took a deep breath. Everyone stared at him in shock, and he took his phone out in response. “I’m calling the agency.”

\----

About two hours later, John was sitting in a room with Alex’s social worker.

“Laurens, why might you be here?”

“I am here to discuss information involving a client.”

“Who might it be?”

“I am here to discuss information pertaining the previous homes of Alexander Hamilton.” John sat at the table. “This is important.”

“What could be important about them?”

“He is my friend and I need information to make sure that I do not cross any lines.” The worker only sighed and grabbed Alex’s file from a cabinet. Well, he grabbed two folders.

“One of those is their previous houses, and the other are the psychological analyses that some of the more… suitable home requested.” John opened the first folder, which was the analysis folder.

**_Severe anxiety, depression, possible bipolar disorder, possible PTSD, problems with gender identification, ~~Asperger's (mild autism) .~~_**

“Why is ‘problems with gender identification’ in the results?” John closed the folder, not noticing the scored-out words, and opened the other. Reading the first page of the second folder answered his question.

**ALEXANDRIA HAMILTON**

This was written in large print at the top of the page.

**Sex: Female; identifies as male**

This was written in slightly smaller text among other things of the sort such as eye and hair color, weight and height. John flipped the page.

**HOUSE ONE: MATILDA AND RYAN [REDACTED]**

**CAUSE OF REMOVAL: CLAIMS/PROOF OF ABUSE**

**DATE OF REMOVAL: SEPTEMBER 17TH, 2009**

**PROOF: VIDEO PROOF OF SEXUAL ABUSE; BRUISES ON ARMS, LEGS, AND FACE; HICKEYS ON NECK, LOWER BACK, AND THIGHS**

He skipped to the last house listed.

**HOUSE EIGHTEEN: MARIA AND JAMES REYNOLDS**

**CAUSE OF REMOVAL: PROOF OF ABUSE**

**DATE OF REMOVAL: AUGUST 7TH, 2015**

**PROOF: EVIDENCE OF UNDERAGE PROSTITUTION; VIDEO PROOF OF SEXUAL ABUSE; MULTIPLE ACCOUNTS OF SEVERE INJURY**

John looked up at the worker, and the two just stared in silence. He took a deep breath as his shoulders began to shake.

“May I borrow these? George and Martha will want to see them.” He broke eye contact as he looked at the papers.

“I can fax copies. I can’t let you have the original papers.” John nodded as he stood up.

“That will work. Thank you.” The two shook hands before John hurried out of the building and to his car. He buckled his seatbelt and looked down at his hands.

It was then that he started crying.


	17. The Others Now Know

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alex's breakdown recovery is basically a mirror of mine.

When John returned about ten minutes after he left the building, Lafayette and Hercules were still standing in the kitchen with Martha and George.

“He’s faxing Alex’s files to you, Mr. Washington.” His voice was cracking with the tears that still filled it. “Read them carefully. You’ll understand the situation afterwards.” He took a deep breath.

“What happened at the agency?” Lafayette stepped forward to hug him, but John stepped back.

“I read Alex’s file. I’m on pretty good terms with his social worker, so I was allowed to see it. It’s not good.” He took another deep breath.  _ Come on, John. Don’t break. _

“What was in it?” Lafayette tried to step forward again.

“I don’t want to say. It will just be easier for you to read.” Mr. Washington walked into the study and came back with the piles of papers. “One of those is his psych analyses, and the other is documentation of removal from the other homes. Skip to House 18 and read Analysis 22.” George set the papers on the table and read the cover page of the stack. It as covered in different information about Alex; height, weight, eye color, hair color, things of that sort. 

But the name printed in bold letters is what caught their eyes.

“Alexandria Hamilton?” The voice was Lafayette’s; confused and intrigued. “Wait, John, didn’t you see him without a shirt after his shower when we went shopping?”

“No, he was in a sweater when I walked in.”

“John, why were you snooping in my file?”

 

====

 

They all looked up and saw that Alex was standing at the bottom of the stairs.

“Alex,” John took a step forward. He backed one step towards the door.

“Why were you snooping in my file?”

“I’m worried.”

“Why? Because you think that I’ll  _ hurt you _ ,” Alex snapped. “You think that I’ll hurt you because I’m screwed up in the head? Because of my anxiety, my depression, the fact that I’ve had so much  _ shit _ happen to me that you’re scared that I’ll do something to you? I’ve heard it all. I’m a danger to those around me, I won’t be able to keep a family because I can barely trust myself, let alone other people, I’ve heard it all.”

“I’m worried about how close of an eye that we have to keep on you, Alex.”

“Why? So I don’t hurt anyone?”

“It’s so that you don’t hurt yourself.” Alex was silent, and John took slow steps towards him. “I don’t know what your life was like, and I’m not going to force you to say anything, but I just don’t want you to do any damage to yourself. I know what it’s like to be in the homes you’ve been in, and I know that everything isn’t as alright as we want it to be.”

“You  _ really _ don’t know what it’s like. Someone like you would have been broken within the first week of it. The only reason that I survived mentally is because of the shit I ended up going through with my birth family. They weren’t abusive, I just ended up losing them at an early age. I-” Alex let out a choked sob as John wrapped his arms around the other’s smaller frame. He basically collapsed into John’s chest. He held his breath for a second before flinging himself off of John, realizing that he had basically just broken down and spilled some of the most personal items in his mental vault of secrets. He used his hands and pushed himself off of John, nearly falling over in the process.

His breath sped up, and he was hyperventilating in a matter of seconds. John stepped forward.

“No,” Alex said, sounding breathless. “Just give me a second, I’ll be fine.” He was able to slow his breath, and eventually a smile appeared on his face. He bounced on the ball of his feet. “I’m really sorry about that,” he chuckled. “I get my little spurts of emotional breakdown every once and awhile, but I’ll be okay now.” He gave them a large smile.

“Alex-” Lafayette stepped forward and put their hand on the other’s arm. He jumped, rather violently, before realizing who it was. The smile fell from his face and his eyes went wide. When he saw that it was just Lafayette, his face relaxed and the smile reappeared.

“I just need a few moments to recuperate, then I’ll be fine.” Alex walked into the kitchen and grabbed one of the plastic water bottles from the fridge.

No one asked questions.


	18. Talking About Rivalries

Almost two weeks, one day of unusually peaceful shopping, and three days of hiding Alex’s file, school started. Alex already had about a month and a half’s worth of his home work for every class except for P.E., so he had a lot of freetime. That’s where Choir came in.

Still, his first day of school was pretty eventful.

 

\----

 

“Alex!” Lafayette’s accent broke through Alex’s hearing. He quickly stood up and began to brush his hair as Laf walked into his room. Well, into the room he was using. “You ready for your first day of school?”

“Do the people at Liberty and Monarchy really hate each other?”

“Most of them. Some of them are nice and such, like you.” Alex began to yank through a group of tangles in his hair. Lafayette sighed and stepped forward, grabbing the brush from his hands. “Let me do it.” Lafayette got through the tangle and the rest of Alex’s hair with ease, then started braiding it.

“Why do they hate each other?”

“To be honest, it’s John and his missions. We have the Karens missions, and they have the Admin missions. We tend to have to race for them, making it a competition if you think about it enough.” Alex heard Laf snap a ponytail off of their wrist and fastening the bottom of the braid with it. “Done.” They stood up as Alex continued to get dressed.

“His work is the only reason that the two schools hate each other?”

“This rivalry has been going on for longer than I’ve been alive. The rivalry was pretty much triggered into full-force with John being sworn into the Karens.”

“Why did they hate each other in the first place?”

“It’s not that they hate each other, it’s just that the schools keep trying to outdo each other, causing hostility.” Laf looked down at their phone before groaning and walking to the window and opening it. “John!” Alex’s heart fluttered at the mention of his name.

_ He’ll just hurt you. Don’t get too close. _

And you need to shut up.

“Get your little Spanish ass in here before Mom kills me for yelling out the window!” With that, they slammed the window closed. Alex grabbed his backpack, laptop, and phone before following Lafayette down the stairs. John was just walking in when Alex stepped onto the ground of the first floor.

“Alex, do you have your schedule?” Alex nodded at John’s question as he took the paper out and held it in his hand. “Here, I can see if I have any classes with you other than Choir.” He took the paper and read it over. “I have History with you second hour, Choir in third hour, and we have the same study hall in fourth. We also have the same lunch.” 

He handed the paper back to the other as Laf came back with an apple and two cereal bars. He handed one of the bars to John and the apple to Alex as they hurried out the door and to John’s car. However, before they got into the car, Laf looked over at Alex. The two made eye contact before Laf turned their glance to the apple in Alex’s hand for a split second before looking back at Alex. He understood what they meant by that look, but didn’t bother responding.

Alex got into the back seat as John started arguing with whoever was in the driver’s seat.

“It’s my car, plus my dad’s already on my ass for even driving myself to school.”

“But you’re out of your dad’s house, John.” He recognized the voice as Hercules. “You shouldn’t have to worry.”

“I’m back in my dad’s house until I’m twenty.” John shrunk into his own shoulders as Herc stood up. “We went to court again, and I didn’t have the ability to hire a lawyer. I was provided a shitty one, and I’m stuck there until then.” Herc was silent. “Get out of the driver’s seat.” He just stayed silent and moved to the back seat. As a result, Herc and Laf took the back seats. John was driving and Alex sat in the passenger seat. 

When John wasn’t looking, Alex slipped the apple from Laf into the other’s bag. The other probably needed more than he did.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shit's going to go down soon.


	19. Meetings, Reunions, and Love

When they pulled up to the school, Alex saw a car that made his breath hitch for a moment. His heart dropped as he saw who it was that got out of the car. He shrunk as the driver looked over in the direction of their car. John parked and they all got out of the car. The other car drove away and the girl who got out began to glance around.

“Maria,” Alex yelled and she turned in the direction of the voice. She smiled as she ran over, crushing him with a hug. “James is letting you finish?” She nodded.

“Wonderful to see you again, Maria,” John smiled. He knew that she hated being called ‘Mrs. Reynolds’, much to her husband’s dismay.

“Wait a second,” Herc cut in. “Maria, how old are you?”

“Sixteen, same age as Alex.” She bounced nervously on the balls of her feet. “I’m married to James because of a business contract. I was roped into it against my will.” She flashed them a smile. “I’ll get out eventually. Things won’t be bad for long.” The parking lot began to fill up.

“Let’s go in before we run into anyone we don’t want to.” Suddenly, they heard loud singing. John turned and started laughing as three people began to run towards them. 

“Well, if it isn’t the Schuyler siblings,” John laughed. The three stopped in front of them, but Eliza froze as soon as she stopped walking. Alex followed her gaze and saw that she was looking at Maria.

“Maria? Why might you be here?” That was Angelica. “Are you here to pick someone up?”

“No. I’m here to attend class.” Angelica gave her the craziest look. “Ange, I’m only sixteen.” The three gasped.

“What about Ja-”

“It’s because of a business contract. I’m there against my will.” Maria shrugged. “I’ll get out eventually.” Eliza was still staring at her, and Alex was able to pick up on what the look meant, but Angelica beat him to making a comment about it. 

“Take a picture, it’ll last longer, Liz.” Her face went red as she processed what she had said. Angelica saw her sister’s face and starting laughing. “I seem to have forgotten that the two of you haven’t met.” She bumped her sister forward.

“U-Umm…” She held her hand out. “Elizabeth Schuyler.” She spoke fast as Maria returned the gesture and smiled.

“Maria. Pleased to meet your acquaintance.” There was a slightly pink tint to Maria’s face.

“A-As to y-you.” There was a goofy grin on her face as Maria laughed. There were metaphorical hearts in her eyes. Alex gave a soft smile.

“We’ve got to set them up,” John whispered to Alex. He nodded in response. Angelica walked up to John and leaned on his shoulders.

“Do you have the stuff?”

“If by that, you mean the soundpad, mini speakers, and clip-on microphones, then yes.” He opened his bag and handed her one of the microphones and one of the speakers. Eliza and Peggy hurried over and grabbed theirs. Alex shot him a confused look.

“You have the song prepared, right,” Peggy asked.

“Yes, Pingu, I have the song all set into the soundpad.” John then noticed the confused look. “They like to do a grand entrance, and they don’t get in trouble for it because their father is the principle. I’m working with ‘Me Too’ by Meghan Trainor.”

“I’ve never heard it,” Alex chuckled. “I wasn’t allowed to do much.” John smiled and slipped Alex’s phone out from his pocket. He opened YouTube and plugged his headphones into it before Alex could protest. He quickly set the headphones on Alex’s head and clicked play. John put the phone back in his pocket as he went back to planning some things for the mini-performance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter is going to fuck you guys up (probably)
> 
> Let's just say this: Hercules isn't as strong as we thought he was.


	20. We Are All Scared Sometimes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hercules isn't as strong as we thought, and the obvious is a secret to some.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If anyone wants any explanations for behaviors/actions of the characters, just comment or message me @ my Tumblr: the-flaming-creampuff

The good part was that things went relatively okay with the entrance.

The bad part was the reaction of one George King.

He had cornered Alex at one point when he got separated from John and the others. Alex was up against a wall, King in front of him. The other’s face was not even an inch from his, and Alex was trying not to shake in fear.

“If it isn’t my little Alexandria~,” he cooed.

“My name isn’t Alexandria, George,” Alex snarled. “I’m not in the business anymore, so don’t even try it.” He finally mustered the courage to push him off. 

This action caught King off guard and he fell flat on his ass.

Alex stood in a defensive stance, doing his best to stand his ground as a crowd began to grow. King sat up, his face painted with an angry look. Alex kept a straight face, not letting his fear show.

“You’ll pay for that.” King stood up, walking towards Alex.

“Pay for what? Knocking you on your ass and giving you what you deserve?” He really shouldn’t be sassing this guy, but he also doesn’t really care.

“You’d best remember your place, Alexandria.” He stood up. “Just a little, good-for-nothing, bastard and orphaned immigrant. Not to mention,” he turned to the crowd, “both a whore  _ and _ a tranny!”

“If you’re stating the fact that I am trans, then why did you use both my dead name and a derogatory term for my identity in the same statement,” Alex shot back. “You should really think your statements out before you start spewing such hateful words, George.”

“ _ Laissez-moi la baise par! _ ” Alex knew exactly who it was. Those who knew what they had said moved out of the way, and others followed suit.

“Well if it isn’t the  _ Sons _ of Liberty,” George yelled as the group approached.

“We’re not all sons, King, so shut your trap!” Alex recognized the voice as Hercules. Alex shut his eyes and started to shake, the fear finally getting to him. He felt someone grabbed the collar of his shirt and pull him forward.

“By the sound of your tone, I’m guessing that  _ she _ is yours?” Alex opened his eyes and stared at his friends. John and Laf were ready to pounce, but Herc was holding them back. Literally. He had both of his arms out and the two were behind him.

“ _ He _ doesn’t belong to anyone. Just let him go, and we can end this peacefully.”

“I don’t do peaceful, Mulligan."

“What do you want?” Hercules began to grind his teeth.

“Let’s make a deal.”

“What’s your offer?” George threw Alex forward and John caught him.

He approached Hercules and spoke quietly. “Let me do my work in peace, and no one has to know about your little… what’s the word? Oh yes!” He grinned evilly. “Let me do my work in peace, and no one has to know about your little  _ affaire de coeur _ .” He dropped the smile. “If you don’t, on the other hand, let’s just say I have some contacts in your family who would  _ not _ like to hear about it.”

“Do it. The worst that would happen is that I would get disowned by a few of my family members. So what? If they don’t like it, I don’t need them in my life.” Alex, being the only one who was able to hear the exchange, knew that he was trying not to start crying. He could see that the other’s chest was heavy, just from the way that he was breathing. “If I get kicked out, I have places to stay. Your intimidation doesn’t work on me.” He stood at his full height. He turned around.

“Hercules…?” Lafayette extended their hand out to touch his arm, but Hercules started to walk away. John and Laf glared at King before walking away, Alex still under John’s arm. King just had a smirk on his face as they walked away and the crowd dispersed. Herc walked faster, and Laf tried to catch up to him.

“ _ Go to class _ ,” Herc signed. Alex looked at his hand, which was raised from his side. Laf just nodded and turned to walk the other way. John followed suit, but Alex followed Herc. John tried to stop him, but he was too quick.

Alex followed Hercules, and they ended up in one of the empty parts of the school. Herc leaned on a wall before breaking his own and starting to sob. Alex stood in front of him, tapping his shoulder. He snapped around and saw who it was.

“I heard him.” That’s all that Alex said.

“No one can know. Not my parents, not other people. I can’t trust them.”

“Can you trust me?” Herc looked at the other and reluctantly nodded. “Can you tell me who it is?”

“It’s Laf. I’ve been dating them for the past year now. My family can’t know.” Alex nodded at this. "I'll get disowned, or they'll just hate me. I try not to think of what the third option is."

“I’ll make sure that they don’t.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Laissez-moi la baise par = Let me the fuck through
> 
> affaire de coeur = Love affair ("Affair of the heart")


	21. The Little Mouse

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There was an edit to Chapter 16 that will affect the next few chapters.

The rest of the day went fairly smooth.

Well, if by smooth, you mean  _ fucking horrible _ .

They were all bombarded with questions, and the three were making sure that Herc didn’t have to answer any of them. Everyone stopped when the Schuyler’s got involved. They got involved at lunch when they were all eating.

They were all laughing, trying to forget what happened earlier that day. Herc explained the situation to the rest of the group. They all understood, and Alex explained that he had heard the entire exchange. Nonetheless, they just tried to stay happy. They were able to do it pretty well, that is, until Charles Lee got involved.

“I heard you guys got in an altercation with King,” he sneered as he stood behind Laf and herc

“Get the fuck out of here, Lee,” Peggy snapped in response.

“Oh Marg, you wound me.” He turned his gaze to Herc. “I  _ also _ heard that he had a few choice words for you, Mulligan.” Herc just continued to do whatever he was doing on his phone. “Hey Hercules,” Lee snapped. There was still no reaction. Lee curled the paper that he had in his hand into a tube and was going to hit Hercules upside the head if it wasn’t for Lafayette grabbing Lee’s wrist and bending it back.

“Don’t. Touch. Him,” they growled. They were going to continue when they heard an announcement through the intercom.

“Would the Revolutionary Set please report to the principal's office, please? Revolutionary Set to the principal’s office. Thank you.” John stood, and the others followed. They put their lunch trays away and all went to the office with no protest.

 

\----

 

“I would like an explanation for this morning.” Philip Schuyler was trying to be intimidating, but his intimidation was nothing compared to earlier.

“It was my fault,” Alex said quietly. “I provoked Mr. King and was given the consequences.”

“Both the security footage and a video given to me by a student differ from that.” He paused for a second. “Where is Mr. Mulligan?”

“He is not fit to talk about this, Sir,” Lafayette said quietly.

“For what reason might that be?”

“King made a personal threat to him, a threat to release personal information that could threaten both his physical and psychological well-being,” John said soberly. “He is not fit to speak as of now.”

“I will send Mulligan home on a mental health emergency, as to not have it go on his record. You will all go with him under the same circumstances, and make sure that he will be alright. I will speak with George at a later time. Gather your things and make sure that your friend is okay.” The man smiled. “Let’s try to get this cleared up, alright?” They all nodded before leaving. Hercules was still sitting in the same position, but he was now embroidering the bottom of his shirt.

“ _ Ma souris mignonne, _ ” Laf whispered. He looked up from his work. “Come. We’re going home.”

“Did this get you guys suspended?” His voice was so small. The name made sense.

“Mr. Schuyler is sending us home on account of a mental health emergency.” Herc stood up and walked over to the others. He took in a deep breath. Tears started to stream down his face, but he quickly put his hand up to wipe them before any of them would notice. Laf walked forward to him, resting their hands on top of his. They pressed a kiss to his forehead before smiling. “Things will be okay, I promise. You have us.” Herc just closed his eyes and nodded. 


	22. Revelations of Meetings and Incidents

While Alex watched this exchange, John leaned his head on Alex’s shoulder.

“It wasn’t always like this, you know that?” Alex hummed at this statement from the other. “When it was just Herc and I, no one really messed with us. Although, we _were_ in a gang.”

“You? In a gang? I don’t believe it.”

“That’s a story for another time.” He wrapped his arm around the other’s shoulders. “When Laf showed up, things got crazy. Herc’s been pining after them since they showed up, and when King figured that out…” John trailed off. “It wasn’t good.” He closed his eyes. “Herc had to work for him. It was to protect Lafayette. Laf blew up on him so many times, but he couldn’t tell them that it was for their well-being. When King let him go, he just wasn’t the same.” He sighed. “He isn’t the Hercules Mulligan that I became friends with. He isn’t the Hercules that I know.”

“We should probably go, _mes amis_ ,” Laf said and they all nodded. The four signed themselves out and left the building. Alex texted Martha.

_‘On my way back. Hercules isn’t in good shape. John, Laf, and I were sent with him as support.’_

He sent the text and got a reply almost instantly.

_‘Alright, dear! It’s just me at home, so I’ll make sure the house is ready!’_

He smiled at his phone before putting it in his pocket. His phone buzzed as soon as he put it in his pocket, so he took it out again. It was a call from a number that he didn’t know. He answered it.

“Hello?”

“Alexander? This is Eliza.”

“How did you get my number, Eliza?”

“Peggy has their ways. Now, I’m going to send you the video of the incident. Jefferson sent it to me, and you need to see it. Just to see the reactions of everyone. You were pretty out of it.”

“Was I? I didn’t notice,” he deadpanned.

“ _Alexander_ ,” Eliza snapped.

“Sorry, sorry.”

“I’m going to text it to you. Watch Herc’s face.” With that, she hung up. His phone pinged with a text not even a second later.

“Eliza sent me the video,” Alex said as Laf leaned forward to see.

“How did Eliza get your number?”

“Her exact words were, ‘Peggy has their ways’. That’s a little unsettling.”

“Well, she’s not wrong. Peggy has their way of doing a lot of things.” As soon as they finished saying that, John parked the car in the driveway of the Washington’s house. He turned the car off before unlocking the door. Laf turned to Hercules and put their hand on his arm. He didn’t respond, so they shook his arm lightly. After a second, realization flashed in their eyes and they looked at John. “He’s disassociated.”

“No, he didn’t,” Alex cut in. “He shut down. There’s a big difference. He’ll come to his senses eventually, but we need to get him inside.” Alex got out of the car and hurried to Herc’s door. He opened it, holding Herc’s arm and being able to get him out of the car. He threw one of the other’s arms around his shoulder, and he felt someone grab the other side. Martha opened the front door just in time, and came rushing out to help.

“What happened?”

“He shut down. We need to get him sitting with different sensory objects, those will bring him to his senses.”

\----

After about ten minutes, they were able to get him situated in Laf’s room. He had a soft blanket around his shoulders and what Laf called a ‘sand blob’ in his hands. Laf sat next to him, talking and trying to lead him back, while the other three stood in the hall.

“Alex, how did you know the difference between Herc shutting down and disassociating,” Martha asked. Alex perked up at this question.

“Well, you see,” he started as his hands began to fidget. “I knew a few people from other schools that I went to that would disassociate, and I decided to learn more about it.” His hands went from fidgeting to moving in a back and forth motion, much like a bird trying to fly. “There’s a lot to know about the difference, and it would take me forever to be able to explain it not. They seem so similar, but they are so different.” When he wasn’t speaking, his jaw was slack as is he was letting out a silent cheer. “It’s probably not best for me to explain it now, but I can another time.” Alex finally noticed his actions when his fingers grazed his face. His face flushed before he tucked his hands in his pockets.

This was  _not_ a conversation that he wanted to have right now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you didn't realize, and I put this in because I tend to project my habits onto characters when I write them, Alex is flapping (a form of stimming)
> 
> That is also a bit of a hint for the next chapter.


	23. Through Herc's Eyes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is kind of a reiteration of last chapter, but from Herc's eyes. There is some new stuff near the end, though.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've based Herc's shutdown on my own experiences with them. I usually end up being partially responsive, but don't remember much and end up sort of in a half-way state between my head and reality. If you have any more questions, feel free to comment or message me @ my Tumblr: the-flaming-creampuff

Hercules’ mind was swimming. He felt ‘out of it’, and that’s the only thing that he felt. He had started embroidering the bottom of his shirt while the others were with the principal. He knew that he should have been in there with them, but he knew that he couldn’t do it. His mind was blank until he heard the door of the office open and close.

He didn’t know what he had said, but he knew that Laf came up and kissed his forehead. They said something, but he couldn’t hear it. When the group started for the door, he knew that Laf had said that it was time for them to go. They got out to John’s car, and they piled in. Alex was in the front seat, with Laf and him in the back seat.

Alex got a phone call at one point, but Herc didn’t notice. He knew what had happened. He was shutting down. He’s not going to remember any of this. He just sat in silence, not that he really had much of a choice anyways because of his brain. As they all spoke, his hearing was slowly coming back. He was still numb, his vision was blurred and his head was foggy.

“...disassociating.”

“No… shut down.” 

He could only hear snippets of what everyone was saying.

“...inside… sensory objects…”

Suddenly, he was being moved. He doesn’t remember what happened between then and now, but the next thing that he does remember is Laf’s voice, their accent showing even more than usual.

“‘erc?” Laf spoke quietly, the first letter-sound of his name being drowned by their accent. He tried to speak, but it just came out as a hum. Laf smiled.

“‘ercules, you’re in my room. You have a blanket around your shoulders and the sand blob in your hands. You’re safe and you can’t be hurt here.”

“I know,” he choked out.

“How do you feel?”

“Tired,” he mumbled, trying to move his head.

“Want me to help you lay down?” He gave the smallest shake of his head, so Laf just leaned on him. “I’m sorry.”

“What for?”

“I’m sorry for yelling in anger when the incident started.” They hugged his arm, meaning for the contact to provide a third sensory input. He let out a distressed hum and began to shake, so Laf moved. Alex walked in, saw what was going on, and hurried to Herc’s side.

“What happened,” Alex asked.

“I-I just leaned on his shoulder and hugged his arm. He started shaking, so I let go.” 

He looked into Herc’s eyes, trying to find the emotions behind it. His eyes were unfocused, and his body shook as if he was a wet cat. “How sensitive is he to sensory inputs?”

“He’s never been very sensitive. He’s really good at multitasking, and tends to do a lot of different things at once.”

“That doesn’t answer my question, Lafayette,” he snapped, but saw the fear in Lafayette’s eyes from the tone. Alex sighed. “I mean in the sense of things like touch and sound.” He spoke in a calm tone, as he knew that Herc was trying to concentrate on the conversation. “Can you give me any information that could help me give you an example?”

“He’s a fashion designer in training.”

“Is he able to have a conversation and take in the texture of a fabric simultaneously?”

“He tends to not speak when he is working.” Laf looked over at him and saw that he had stopped shaking. He was just staring at Laf. “Are you okay, ‘erc?”

“Yeah. Just a question.” Alex turned his attention to the other. “What the hell happened after we walked away from King?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> guess who has been #suffering today? This motherfucker. I've been on the verge of an anxiety attack all day, and I spilled pretty much all of my thoughts to one of my friends, which isn't a good idea.
> 
> Yep.


	24. Nicknames and Lots of Spanish

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry for the jump between chapters date-wise. I've been working on a novelette, so fanfic writing has kind of been put on the back burner. Here's a chapter that is almost 1k words to try to make up for it.
> 
> Follow me on Tumblr if you want @ the-flaming-creampuff

“You shut down, and we used methods that I have learned from dissociation to bring you back,” Alex explained to him, and began to explain further when he was met with a confused look from the other. “I was diagnosed with Asperger’s at the age of… nine? I was either nine or ten. I have the tendency to disassociate, so I learned different methods to bring someone back so that I could teach others in case it happened.” Alex climbed onto the bed, sitting cross-legged in front of Hercules.

“Do you want me to teach you ASL,” Herc asked. “I know you get your mute moments, and ASL will make things easier.” Alex nodded as Herc dropped the sand blob. “Do you know any sign language?”

“No. I did know some a few years ago, but I don’t remember them.” Alex paused for a second. “I remember how to fingerspell, but I don’t remember any specific signs.” Herc just smiled at this and attempted to begin the lesson.

\----

Martha and John still stood in the hall, listening to the exchange. John just gave a soft smile at them as Martha tried to study John.

“Is everything alright?” The question was sudden from her, and it caught John off guard.

“It’s all good, Mrs. Washington. Just some stuff at home is all, nothing too big.”

“I thought you were-”

“-staying at the Karen’s? I was. I went back to court with my father, and I’m stuck at his house until I’m 21.” John sighed. “I don’t know how much more of this I can take.”

“I’ll get George to back you up in court.”

“You really don’t ha-”

“Nope, you’re not talking me out of it.” She smiled. “Your father has been making some rather… harsh decisions as a Senator.” Her smile dropped. “Wait a second, isn’t he still in South Carolina?”

“Yeah, but he has us staying up here with a nanny.”

“Is the nanny watching Mary Eleanor?” John nodded. “Go and pick her up. Bring her here and give the nanny the rest of the day off.” He gave her a confused look, but nodded again.

“Kids, John is going to go and pick his little sister up. He’ll be back in a little bit,” Martha smiled as she poked her head into the doorway.

“Before I go,” John said as he joined her in the doorway. “Alex, might I be able to borrow you? The gatekeep won’t let me in before school ends unless I’m with someone.”

“Because the last time you did that, you almost drank yourself to death from your dad’s whiskey,” Herc frowned.

“It was  _ one time _ , and that was like a year and a half ago.”

“Yeah, I’ll come with you.” He rolled off of the bed and tumbled to the floor. He got up in a matter of a second. “That never happened.” They all started laughing, and the air felt lighter. He walked over to the door, and the two started down the stairs.

“We have to go across town to the other gated neighborhood. My father refused to let us be in the same neighborhood as the Washington’s.” Alex shot him a confused look, and John just laughed. “Along with being slight political enemies, my dad thinks that the Washington’s are fairly… frowned upon in society.” They got outside and to John’s car. Alex got in the passenger seat and John started the car from the driver’s seat.

It wasn’t until they were out of the gate that Alex spoke. “What did you mean by ‘frowned upon in society’?”

John just laughed again. “Well, when you have a non-binary child who is an immigrant and whose first language is French and not English, you get frowned upon by my father.” They stopped at a red light, so John turned to Alex. “It’s also a  _ bit _ of a fiasco when you’re the vice president of the country and bisexual.” He turned back to the road without another word and continued down the road. Alex could see the other gated neighborhood in the distance.

“Wait a second,  _ what _ ?”

“Yeah, GWash is bi as all hell.” John smiled. “How do I know? First, Laf told me because GWash told them after they came out to him as non-binary. Second, the LGBT board invited him to be on their float in the pride parade and he was wearing a bisexual pride flag like a cape.” Alex started laughing at the image of that. “So yeah. My dad’s not a big fan of you guys, but he still lets me come over because studying with Laf is pretty much the only reason I am passing any of my classes.” The car stopped in front of a gate. John rolled down the window.

“Home early, aren’t you Jack?” The gatekeep smiled.

“The nanny’s sick, so I need to pick up Mary Eleanor.” The person just nodded and opened the gate. “Thanks.” They drove in. “Do you remember Mary Eleanor?” Alex nodded.

“She was the little girl who was a splitting image of your mother, was she not?” John nodded. “Why doesn’t your dad like her? I remember her just being a little angel.”

“My mother died while giving birth to her. Not the step-mother that I have, my birth mother.” John just sighed as they pulled up to the house. The two got out and approached the door. They walked in. “Mia!” 

An older woman emerged from the kitchen, with a little girl behind her. “ _ Estás en casa temprano. _ ” She seemed to almost be scared.

“ _ Papá dice que para darle el día de descanso. _ ” John smiled. “I’m home early because a friend of mine got sent home. Mrs. Washington wants to see Mary, so Father gave you the day off.”

“That’s a lie,” Mary giggled. “Papa doesn’t want me over there.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Spanish Translations:  
> Estás en casa temprano: You are home early  
> Papá dice que para darle el día de descanso: Dad said to give you the rest of the day off
> 
> Now the notes!!:
> 
> Okay, so yeah, I HC GWash as being bi as all hell.
> 
> It is now revealed when John was living! I remember getting asked in the first few chapters where he was staying, and I didn't want to say anything until I put it in the story.
> 
> I also HC Alex as having Asperger's. The thing is, I also have a high possibility of having extremely mild Asperger's, so his is based off of my tendencies. It's mostly the stimming, special interests, and trouble-communicating-with-people-my-age-but-I-can-communicate-with-people-older-and-younger-than-me-very-easily thing.
> 
> :)


	25. The Little One

Alex kneeled and Mary walked up to him. “It’s been awhile since we’ve seen each other, but I remember that you were the  _ best _ at cheering people up. You see, our friend had someone say some pretty nasty thing to him, and he needs someone to cheer him up. We really need your help. Do you want to help us?” She nodded.

“I remember you. You’re  _ el huracán _ . The hurricane.” She smiled. “You’re also the boy who kissed my brother.” John’s face flushed as he snorted. Alex just laughed as he nodded.

“Yes, I am _ l'ouragan _ .”

“Do you not speak Spanish?” Her smile dropped. “That was French, correct?”

“ _ Oui _ . I speak Spanish fluently, but French is a lot more fun.”

“You told me you don’t speak Spanish,” John laughed.

“That, _  petit guerrier _ , was a blatant lie.”

“You shouldn’t lie.” Alex smiled at the girl as she spoke.

“Well, you see, Jack here made a comment to me that was meant to be endearing in a sense. I told him that I didn’t understand so that I didn’t embarrass him. It was more of a white lie than anything.” He paused for a second. “You should grab a coat, Mary. It’s a little chilly outside.” She nodded as she hurried to the coat rack and grabbed a sweater. John resumed his conversation with the nanny as she got the sweater over her arms. She walked back to Alex.

“Zip?” She didn’t make eye contact when she asked, but Alex still nodded and did up the zipper. “Do you remember my father?” She sat in front of him.

“A little bit. I didn’t see much of him while I was here.”

“He’s gotten worse.” Her gaze fell to the floor. “It’s easier for him to get mad, and he makes us hurt when he’s mad.”

“He isn’t home all that often, is he?” She shook her head.

“At least twice in a month. Last time he was here,” she paused and leaned in, making sure that John couldn’t hear, “he beat Jack.”

“What?”

“Jack has make-up on his neck and arms to hide the hand marks.” She seemed to be getting fired up about this, despite her age. “He has bruises up his sides and on his arms and on his legs and on his back and it just scares me because I don’t want him to hurt Martha or Harry and I would let him hurt me instead of them if he  _ bothered _ to even  _ notice  _ me!” She yelled the last few words.

“What’s going on?” John turned and started to walk over, but Alex put up his hands and hushed the other.

“I’m letting your sister vent about your father, so hush up.” He turned his attention back to the child in front of him. “Is there anything else?”

“He’s been trying to get Martha to do stuff with him because he misses  _ Mamá  _ and Heather is asexual, so she doesn’t  _ want  _ to have sex. He’s been trying to talk her into it, and I think it worked at one point. I think he had threatened her with something.” Her voice started to quiver. “I-I just don’t want her to get hurt,  _ el huracán _ .”

“I know, Mary. I don’t want her to get hurt either. I don’t want any of you to get hurt. We’re working on making sure that you and your siblings are safe, okay?” She nodded. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> el huracán/l'ouragan: The Hurricane
> 
> petit guerrier: little warrior


	26. What The World Needs Now

“How old are you again, Mary?”

“I’m eight.”

“Why aren’t you at school?”

“ _ Henry no quiere que ella en la escuela pública hasta que ella está en la escuela intermedia, de modo que ella tiene lecciones aquí en la casa. Ella acaba de terminar, _ ” Mia frowned.

“ _¿Hay alguna razón específica para ello?_ ”

“Dad thinks that I have a learning disability because I struggle in math and science.” She tapped her hands on her feet. “I’m better at writing.”

“Oh yeah, Alex, I forgot to mention that she picked up your knack for writing somehow,” John laughed, and Alex laughed along. “We need to head back before Mrs. Washington gets too impatient.” John turned back to the nanny. “Remember, you have the day off. I’ll be back before Harry and Martha get home.” She nodded as Alex and Mary stood up. John walked over and smiled as Mary reached for Alex’s hand. He just smiled and let her squeeze his hand as the three left the house and began the drive home.

 

\----

 

_ Sra. Guerra _ ,” Mary yelled as the three walked into the house. Martha walked quickly from the kitchen and wrapped her into a hug. “It’s been too long since we’ve seen each other.”

“Yes it has, Mary. How are Martha and Henry?”

“I’ll tell you later.” She looked at the stairs. “Alex was saying that someone here needed to be cheered up?”

“Yes, there is. Remember your brother’s friend Hercules?”

“The fashion designer?”

“Yes, him. You see, someone said some bad things to him and he’s a little scared.” Mary just nodded, rushing up the stairs. John and Alex ran after her. She stopped in front of the door, freezing as she listened to the conversation.

“I just want my siblings to be safe, Laf.” Their voices were muffled, but still able to be heard through the door. “My dad will take them away if I tell him.”

“Yes, but it isn’t healthy for you to say so little about your personal life. I’m your partner, you need to talk to me.” Their voice was teary.

“I know that, Laf. I know that but I just can’t bring myself to do it.” He paused for a second. “I’m really trying to do something about this, I am. It’s just… hard.” A shaky breath was heard. “I don’t know what to do.”

“We just have to take it one step at a time. We need to take…  _ petits pas _ . Baby steps. It won’t happen overnight, and that’s okay.” There was a pause. “We can get through this together. When my parents died, you were here for me. So, this is me repaying you for that.” There was a small laugh before they heard Laf singing, their accent hanging from every syllable. “What the world needs now, is love, sweet love. It’s the only thing that there is just too little of. No, not just for some, but for everyone.”

Mary decided to not knock on the door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The version of this song that I was listening to was by Will Young, and it is fUCKING AMAZING.
> 
> Henry no quiere que ella en la escuela pública hasta que ella está en la escuela intermedia, de modo que ella tiene lecciones aquí en la casa. Ella acaba de terminar: Henry does not want her in the public school until she is in the middle school, so she has lessons here in the house. She just finished
> 
> ¿Hay alguna razón específica para ello?: Is there any particular reason?
> 
> Sra. Guerra: Mrs. War
> 
> petits pas: baby steps


	27. You Swore

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The plot thickens

“Alex! Time to wake up!” Laf burst into the other’s room the next morning. Alex was sitting at his desk, still typing in the same position that Laf had seen him in before they tried to get him to go to bed. He had a blanket wrapped around his shoulders and a pair of old wire glasses sitting on the tip of his nose as his fingers flew across the keyboard. “Alex?”

“Hmm?” He didn’t take his eyes off of the screen as he kept writing.

“Alexandre, did you sleep?”

“No.” His voice was groggy. “Had to finish this report for school.”

“Do you mean the English report that isn’t due for the next month?”

“I need time to revise and edit.” Laf just tsked and turned toward the stairs.

“You are staying home today,  _ mon petit lion _ ,” they commented before hurrying down the stairs. It took a minute before the words sunk in, and he started to get up so he could run after them. When he finally stumbled into the kitchen, Laf was in the middle of a conversation with George.

“I can’t stay home,” he said breathlessly.

“Alexander, you didn’t sleep last night.”

“I’ll be fi-” He was cut off by the sound of something landing on the table and shaking.

“These were in Alex’s bag. They fell out yesterday.”

_ His caffeine pills. Shit. _

“What are these?” George picked the package up.

“They’re caffeine tablets. One has about as much caffeine as a cup of coffee.”

“Those aren’t mine.” Alex straightened his back. Laf gave him a look. “I don’t know why those are in the-”

“Alexander, that’s bullshit,” Laf snapped. Okay then, new side of Lafayette has been discovered. “I know you buy them from a King associate at school. I’m not an idiot, and you’re not subtle.” They crossed their arms. “Listen, Alex, I’m worried.”

“There’s no need to be worried. I-”  _ Let’s stop that sentence before it starts _ .

“Alexander, if you truly want to get better, you’d stay home. That’s final.” Fear glazed over his eyes as he nodded, his vision becoming downcast. He just turned and hurried out of the room and up the stairs.

“What. The Hell,” Lafayette snapped.

“Laf, I-”

“George, you just fucking  _ manipulated him! _ ”

“Lafayette-”

“We made a  _ promise _ that we would help him, and not hurt him!”

“ _ Lafayette _ !”

“You can’t just go and do what  _ so many others _ did! He was finally trusting you, and you went and ruined it! He was finally trusting you enough to be able to call him Dad! Like, how did you not see any of that? You would have to either be avoiding it or-”

“ _ GILBERT! _ ”

Lafayette froze. That couldn’t have happened. They must have been hearing it wrong.

“You said you’d never call me that,” their voice shook. He stood, reaching out for them. “No, you  _ swore _ that you’d never call me by that name again, George. You  **_swore_ ** , even after the slip-ups. I let those pass because they were just that: slip-ups. This one was more than that. This one was  _ intentional _ . I’ve been out to you for six years, I was eleven. You know that that name is something that… I’ve lived with you longer than I’ve been out to you, I lived with you for five years before I came out to you. I came back as an exchange student this year because I knew this boy would someone to confide in that was around his age. You  _ knew _ that it would work.” They backed away from him. “You’ve not only lost his trust, you’ve lost mine. He’s in no shape to go to school, but he’s in no shape to be here for now.” They hurried out of the room and up the stairs. 

George just sat back down in shock, trying to think of how he could fix this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i am sO SORRY FOR NOT UPDATING THIS FOR ALMOST THREE MONTHS. I HAVE SOME OTHER STUFF (AKA A NON-FANFICTION PIECE THAT I WANT TO GET PUBLISHED)
> 
> BUT I PROMISE, THIS SCENE WILL MAKE SENSE LATER ON.


	28. Meeting an Idol

Laf followed Alex up the stairs and knocked on his door when he shut it.

“Alex,  _ mon petit lion _ , may I come in?”

“You said I could trust him, Lafayette.” Tears broke through his voice, then he started to sob. “You  _ promised _ I could trust him.”

“He betrayed my trust as well.” They let out a dry laugh. “He used my dead name. Intentionally.” He opened his door and stared at the person in disbelief. “Listen, Alex, I don’t know why he did that. I’ve already flipped out on him.”

“It’s fine.”

“No, it’s  _ not _ fine.” They grabbed his wrist and dragged him down the hallway. “We’re going to the theatre.”

“What? Why the theatre?”

“Martha works there, and I know that she has a special guest there that I know that you’ll love to meet.”

“Yeah, who is it?” Laf dragged him out the front door and to the car, where they plugged their phone in and started to play a song. 

_Lights up on_[ _Washington Heights,_](http://genius.com/Lin-manuel-miranda-in-the-heights-lyrics#note-1688381) [_up at the break of day_](http://genius.com/Lin-manuel-miranda-in-the-heights-lyrics#note-8571040)

_ I wake up and I got this little punk I gotta chase away _

_ Pop the grate at the crack of dawn, sing _

_ While I wipe down the awning _

_ Hey y’all, good morning _

“Don’t tell me,” he smiled. They just nodded. “You can’t be serious. He’s  _ here _ ?”

“She didn’t want me to tell you because she was going to bring you, but since our day just went to shit, I decided that we’ll go now.” They started driving, as Alex rapped along to the song.

 

\----

 

They got halfway through No Me Diga before they pulled up to the theatre. Laf parked the car and Alex followed them out of the car and into the building. He just stopped in front of the building, staring.

“Chris!”

“Lafayette!” Laf dragged him over to the man, smiling. The other look at Alex. “Who’s the Lin-lookin’ kid?”

“This is my brother, Alexander.” Laf wrapped their arm around his shoulder. “Martha was actually going to bring him in later to meet Lin, but we had a bit of a, how you say,  _ bagarre verbale _ , with George. So now we’re here!”

“Laf, I don’t speak French. Remember?”

“We got in an argument. A verbal scuffle,  _ bagarre verbale _ ,” Alex blurted, his face flushing as he put his head down.

“You fluent,” Chris laughed as he asked.

“French and Spanish are his first languages,” Laf smiles, pride just radiating off of them.

“How old  _ are _ you, kid?”

“I’m almost seventeen,” he smiled, “was fluent in English by about twelve, not long before I got stuck here in foster care.”

“Let me guess, Caribbean?”

“Very close, actually,” he laughed. “West Indies, Nevis.”

“Well, kid, I think you and Lin are going to get along pretty well.” He turned to the door. “I think they’re still on break, so you can talk to him now.” He opened said door and the three walked in.

“Chris, you  _ cabrona! _ Final call was five minutes ago!” A voice floated in from one of the hallways.

“Sorry, ma’am Laf’s here and we were just catching up.” Martha walked out of the hallway she was in.

“Lafayette, I swear if you brought Alexander earlier than we-” She walked out to them and was about to start snipping at them when she saw the redness of Alex’s eyes from crying. “What happened?”

“I’ll tell you in a little bit, but how about we bring Alex in to watch the music run-through?” Laf smiled and Martha nodded. Alex walked forward and followed her into the theatre.

“Hey everyone, my son Alex is here early, so he’s just gonna sit in and watch the runthrough while I talk to Lafayette.” He just smiled and gave a small wave, sitting in the seat that Martha pointed to. She just smiled again before walking out of the room.

He was in the same room as the Broadway cast of In The Heights, and was about to scream.

“Hey, Alex, you familiar with In The Heights?” He nodded and smiled. “Good, we can’t seem to get the beat right for the rap with Benny and Usnavi in ‘96,000’. Could you help us?” He hesitated, but nodded again. The person nodded at him, gesturing for him to go up. He walked slowly, but ended up there eventually. The person patted a spot next to them on the low platform, and Alex sat in the spot slowly. “Do you know the words or do you need a sheet?”

“I know the words.” He put his head down. “Might you be able to play the first part of the song as well? Just to get into character?” The man smiled.

“Of course!” He turned back. “Alex Laca, from the top!”

Alex kept his head down as the track started, raping the lines quietly as the song. He felt the people watching him as they went through their parts, the man next to his filling in as Usnavi. That is, until they got to the rap. He seemed to exude confidence as he sat, waiting.

_ Yo _

_ If I won the lotto tomorrow _

_ Well I know I wouldn’t bother goin’ on no spendin’ spree _

_ I pick a business school and pay the entrance fee! _

_ Then maybe if you’re lucky _

_ You’ll stay friends with me! _

_ I’ll be a businessman, richer than Nina’s daddy! _

_ Donald Trump and I on the links and he’s my caddy! _

[ _ My money’s makin’ money _ ](http://genius.com/Lin-manuel-miranda-96000-lyrics#note-9089915) _ , I’m goin’ from po’ to mo’ dough! _

_ Keep the bling, I want the brass ring, like Frodo! _

Now completely in character and spaced out from what his body was doing, his head shot up and he made eye contact with Chris. A smirk spread across his face and the other in the chair smiled as he spoke.

_ Oh no, here goes Mr. Braggadocio _

_ Next thing you know, you’re lying like Pinocchio— _

Chris stood up.

_ If you’re scared of the bull, stay out the rodeo! _

Alex spaced out again, waiting for the cue.

_ Ooh, you better stop rappin’ _

_ You’re not ready _

_ It’s gonna get hot and heavy _

_ And you already sweaty— _

Alex just smiled out at the people in front of him, breaking character just to do that before being sucked back in for his next verse.

_ Yo, I’m sorry is that an answer? _

_ Shut up, go home and pull ya damn pants up! _

_ As for you, Mr. Frodo of the Shire— _

_ 96 G’s ain’t enough to retire _

Chris had this sort of fire in his eyes, and Alex was determined to outburn it.

_ Come on, I’ll have enough to knock your ass off its axis! _

_ You’ll have a knapsack full of jack after taxes _

 

Suddenly, the track stopped and there was applause. Alex’s eyes refocused, his muscles relaxed, and he curled back into himself.

“See Lin, I told ya! This kid is a younger you,” Chris yelled. “He even looks like you.”

And they both just smiled.

 

\----

 

“Laf, what happened at home?” The two heard the music just starting through the doors. “I need you to tell me what else happened.”

“Nothing else happened,” Laf snapped, but all of the spite was drowned out by the tears in their voice. “George manipulated Alex, and I snapped at him. I brought Alex here because he was in no shape to be at school, but also in no shape to be at home.” They wiped a tear off of their face, trying their best to make sure that no other tears fell. It didn’t work to well.

“ _ Lafayette _ , I know that isn’t the entire sto-”

“George called me Gilbert,” they blurted. “He called me by that name intentionally because I was interrupting him and he wanted to try to apologize for what he did to Alex,” they blabbed, their voice getting smaller and quieter as they spoke. She had a look of anger on her face, but concern clouded it.

She was going to have to have a talk with him when she got home.

 

\----

 

The cast and Alex were just goofing around now, taking a break from going over the songs. As he laughed at a joke, he suddenly was having a hard time breathing. He tried to swallow the feeling down, but that just made it worse. He started shaking, and the person next to him noticed.

“Shit,” they muttered, scooting over to him. “Hey, Alex, bud.” He put his hand on the other’s wrist, but he pulled his arms to his chest as if he had been burned, scooting back. Chris ran up to the stage when the other backed up.

“Lin, what’s going on?”

“Panic attack,” he muttered. “He’s sensitive to touch right now, so don’t touch him.” He turned back to Alex. “Do you want me to get Lafayette and Martha, or do you want to wait it out?” He shook his head. “Should we do anything specific?”

“ _ Contar _ ,” he said as he screwed his eyes shut.

“French, Spanish, or English, kid?” Chris smiled at Lin, already knowing what Alex would say.

“ _ Español _ .”

Lin just nodded, sitting cross legged in front of Alex. “ _ Sigue mi voz, ¿de acuerdo? Uno, dos, tres, cuatro, cinco, seis, siete, ocho, nueve, diez, inhale _ .” He smiled when Alex followed. “ _ Diez, nueve, ocho, siete, seis, cinco, cuatro, tres ,dos, uno, exhala. _ ” He repeated this about four more times until Alex was calm.

The younger curled further into himself when he finally came to his senses. “I’m sorry,” he mumbled.

“You okay, kid?” Alex just nodded. “Need to go and take a breather?” He nodded again. “Just prop the door open when you go, it’s a pain to open again.” He slid off of the platform and hurried up the aisle to the door. Right before he walked through, he turned back around.

“ _ Thank you _ ,” he signed before opening the door.

Lin just smiled.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> BEFORE ANYONE SAYS ANYTHING: I MADE IT IN THIS UNIVERSE THAT IN THE HEIGHTS GOT A BROADWAY REBOOT SO SHHHHHHHHHSHSHSHHSHSHSHSH.
> 
> ALSO, THIS IS TO MAKE UP FOR MY SHITTY UPDATING SCHEDULE


	29. Just Maybe

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> PLEASE READ THE END NOTE

Alex paced outside the door, trying to make the cooldown process of his panic attack go by faster. His binding wasn’t really helping with this process, the bandages rubbing and pressing uncomfortably. He stretched his arms above his head and tried to adjust the bandages, but to no avail. He suddenly winced at a drastic adjustment of the binding, causing a sharp stabbing pain to shoot through his ribs. He took in a sharp breath.

“Alex?” Martha’s voice floated softly through the hall as he quickly put his arms down. “Are you okay?”

“Fine,” he replied quickly. It was too quick.

“Alex, don’t lie. Please.” She hurried in front of him as he winced again. The stabbing just got worse when he put his arms down. “Alex, honey, did you order the binder?”

“No,” he squeaked out, the pain just worsening. He shut his eyes, trying to distract himself from the pain.

“Are you using a sports bra?”

“No.” The squeak turned into an almost whine as he twisted his torso to adjust it.

“Alex, go to the bathroom and take the bandages off. We have a binder backstage that might fit you.” She hurried away, so Alex just dragged himself to the bathroom.

\----

Martha burst into the main stage room, startling everyone in there.

“Is Alex okay,” Lin asked.

“Where’s the binder that we had?”

“Why do you-oh.” Lin just stopped. “Prop room, blue fabric box. I think we have two, so let him try both on.” She just nodded and hurried to said room. She was about to go in when she heard the sound of running outside. Fearing the worst, she ran back out.

“Mom, where’d Alex go? He just ran out the door,” Laf asked, their voice filled to the brim with fear.

\----

Alex started running, but he’s not too sure of where he planned to go. He didn’t really recognize the part of town that he was in, so he just ran in a random direction. The pressure from the bandages just became worse. When he finally stopped, he wasn’t too sure of where he was.

“Alexander? Why are you here?” He turned towards the noise and saw that it was none other than Aaron. He just stared before holding out his hand. Confused, Aaron grabbed it.

Suddenly, he was being dragged down the street.

Aaron let himself be dragged, and they arrived at the theatre. 

\----

“Mom, I need you to talk Dad into letting me make a statement. I’m ready to talk about what happened with Reynolds.”

\----

“George, it will be closure for both him  _ and _ Aaron. Let him do this,  _ please _ .”

\----

“ _ The charge I’m stating has connections to one James Reynolds, for purposes of illegal behavior. Nonetheless, his real crimes have damaged his children and his wife.  _

_ A perverted man, unwilling to repent.  _

_ I had frequent client meetings, most of them in his own house. _ ”

Aaron could hear him rehearsing from the guest room of their house. He envied the other’s bravery to do this. Maybe he would be brave enough one day. Just maybe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WE'RE NEARING THE END, FOLKS
> 
> IT'S ALSO REALLY CHOPPY ON PURPOSE BECAUSE IT IS TO SIMULATE PANIC AND FEAR.


	30. Epilogue (pt. 1)

Alex stood in his cleanest suit, stage left, with Aaron, Lafayette, John, Hercules, and the Schuyler sisters behind him. He looked back at them.

 _This is your chance at closure_ , he reminded himself. _Or maybe, it’s revenge_.

He smiled.

 

\----

 

He stood at the podium, a crowd of thousands in front of him and many more watching through TV screens. He took in a deep breath, and decided to start by introducing himself. Humanization before he is made to be seen as just a case.

“Good afternoon, as you know, my name is Alexander. I’ve been living with the Washington’s for about three months now. I’m just a normal highschooler at Liberty High. I get my work done, I do extra credit when I can, and I try my best to not miss school. But, I still have my differences. I’ve lived in foster homes my whole life, I’m an immigrant from the West Indies, I’m fluent in three languages including English, and I am transgender.” He stopped for a second, just for effect. “Nonetheless, that is not why I’m here to talk to you guys today. I am actually here to talk about a person that I lived with for a while.” He swallowed and looked at his friends backstage. John smiled at him.

“You can do this,” he mouthed to Alex.

“ _The charge I’m stating has connections to one James Reynolds, for purposes of illegal behavior. Nonetheless, his real crimes have damaged his children and his wife. A perverted man, unwilling to repent._ ”

He looked up from his notecards.

“ _I had frequent client meetings, most of them in his own house._ ”

He let out a shaky breath.

“ _Mrs. Reynolds, only sixteen, forced to marriage through the business of her father.”_

He heard yelling in the crowd and attempted to focus his eyes. He recognized it as one of the politician friends that Reynolds had brought around the house. The person walked down the aisle and stood in front of the stage.

“What makes you think that you can just go around and say these things?”

“Am I not allowed to speak the truth?” Alex’s sassy route was _not_ a good route to take, but he took it anyways.

“This is not the truth!”

“Sir, if I may continue, both my brother and I were subjected to forced prostitution. I was for four months before being removed, and my father and I are working on getting Aaron out of that house,” he said loudly into the microphone before turning it off.

“This is all a bluff!”

“I have people who can vouch for me.”

“Your vouches are _shit_!”

“There is no need for such language.” He sighed. “ _Señor, deje por favor o usted será quitado por la seguridad._ ” He mentally cursed himself as he picked at his nails.

“What was that? I don’t speak border nig-”

“ _Ne pensez même pas à terminer cette phrase._ ” And now he’s slipped into French. Great.

“How about you speak _English_? Or can you not speak it other than reading it?” 

“Sir, as stated, I am fluent in English, French, _and_ Spanish. I can switch between them faster than you can spew your bullshi-” He felt a hand on his shoulder and jumped, whipping his head around. Martha stood behind him, her face stony. Alexander looked up into the crowd, scanning the faces.

Suddenly, his eyes focused on Mrs. Maria Reynolds.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> we'RE NEARING THE END, FOLKS
> 
> Spanish:  
> Señor, deje por favor o usted será quitado por la seguridad: Sir, please leave or you will be removed by security.
> 
> French:  
> Ne pensez même pas à terminer cette phrase: Do not even think to finish that sentence
> 
> SORRY THAT THIS IS FUCKING HORRIBLE SPANISH & FRENCH, I USED GOOGLE TRANSLATE


	31. Epilogue (pt. 2)

The two made eye contact and Alex smiled. He put his hands up and started signing.

“ _ Ask to go to the bathroom and loop around to the third green door on the left. The group is all there.” _

Alex watched her ask, then stand up only seconds later. Hurrying, she walked out the door and turned left. He backed up slightly and turned to the people backstage. 

“ _ Maria’s coming _ ,” he signed. “ _ Be quiet. James is in the audience. _ ” Hercules nodded and quietly repeated the message to the group. They all turned to Alex and nodded as he made eye contact with George. He bowed his head slightly, signalling that he was finished with his speech. He walked forward and onto stage, heading towards the podium. Martha almost dragged Alex backstage, but he knew that he wasn’t in any trouble when she wrapped him in a side-crushing hug.

“Alexander, why the fuck did I believe you when I thought that this was going to be a good idea,” Maria laughed, but her fear seeped through it. Martha let go of him.

“Mari, we outnumber him  _ and _ we have the vice president  _ of this country _ with us.” Alex smiled. “Everything’ll be fine.” He walked over and wrapped her in a hug. “You’re protected here.” Alex unwrapped one of his arms and looked at Aaron. Grabbing his shoulder, he pulled him into the hug. “You’re both protected here.” 

 

\----

 

He felt that happiness was only a step away, but it was two steps ahead of him.

It wasn’t that Alex wasn’t happy, he just wasn’t as happy as he wanted to be.

He had a great boyfriend, an amazing family, and a life that many would envy. Nonetheless, he still envies the happy lives of others. They didn’t have the constant fear of being sent away; the adoptions papers were still being processed and the Washington’s could back out at any moment if they really wanted it.

“You okay, sweetheart?” John squeezed his hand. “You still want to do this?”

“What makes you think that I don’t?” He smiled. “I got Maria away from the  _ bastard _ , I’m getting adopted,  _ and _ I have a great boyfriend. Getting to slander the man who put me through hell and is now in federal prison is just a bonus.”

“Now welcome to the podium, Mr. Alexander Hamilton, author of ‘The Reynolds Afflictions: Affairs Concerning Politician James Reynolds’!” He smiled and sauntered up to the podium.

“Hello everyone!” He sounded cheerful. “As you know, I’m Alexander. I’m really here to just answer questions about my essays, so go ahead and start with the questions!” About 20 hands shot up, so Alexander chose a young boy in the front row.

“Mr. Hamilton, a pleasure to have you answer my question. Philip Doe, lead reporter for ‘Junior Liberty’. If I may ask, what brought you to bring this situation to the public?”

“Well, my family wanted me to bring it immediately to the press. We then agreed that that wouldn’t be a good idea.” He took a deep breath. “So we waited. And waited. And waited. Then I ran into Aaron, my ex-foster brother, and seeing the state that he was in gave me the confidence to go public about it.”


	32. Epilogue: The Finale

Alexander was at the end of his questions, and ready to scream. He was so socialed out that he was getting frustrated. 

“Alright last question.” The room erupted with sound, and he flinched. “Blonde, red coat, fifth row from the front, bright white hat.”

The girl stood. “Mr. Hamilton, Mary King, head writer for the ‘Monarch Press’, sister of George King.” She gave off that radiating ego that Alex despised. “There have been some rumors that you hinted at a relationship with the son of Henry Laurens, John. Are these accusations true?”

“First off, your brother is an asshole. If you’ve read the book and he has told you anything, he was the one that I was talking about when ‘Jeff Kine’ was mentioned. Second, that information is true. John and I have been in a romantic relationship for about a month now.” He smiled. “Life was how it was, and we were both living how we shouldn’t’ve. We found each other and things were okay.”

He didn’t forgive everyone, and that was okay. 

Not everyone forgave him, and that’s okay too.

All that matters is that he’s happy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> aaaAAAAND THIS COMES TO AN END!!!! I MIGHT ADD SOME LITTLE SIDE THINGS TO THIS, BUT THAT WILL TAKE A BIT. THIS HAS BEEN QUITE AN ADVENTURE, AND HAS BEEN FUN! SEE YOU IN LATER STORIES!!!!
> 
> IF YOU WANT TO, COME AND YELL AT ME ON TUMBLR: THE-FLAMING-CREAMPUFF


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